Heart House Austin
Spring 2009

Note: If you have problems viewing the graphics included in this email, a copy of this
e-newsletter can be seen online at http://www.hearthouse.org/newsletter.htm
  

In this issue:

• Our Program: Body Power Means Brain Power!

• What We're Studying: Read, Write, Rock On!

• Upcoming Events

• Volunteer Spotlight

• How to Volunteer at Heart House

• Donor Spotlight 

• Student Spotlights

• What Have You Heard at Heart House?

• This Month's Photo Scrapbook

Body Power Means Brain Power

According to the most recent Fitnessgram, an annual study of the fitness of Texas children, students who are physically fit are more likely to pass state tests and attend school regularly. The Fitnessgram, which was created by The Cooper Institute in 1982, measured the fitness levels of over 2.4 million Texas students during the 2007-2008 school year. In addition to the link between physical health and academic success, last year’s Fitnessgram also indicated that students who are fit may also be less likely to exhibit behavior issues in school.  

Additionally, having a positive attitude toward fitness is especially important for certain populations. Citing recent statistics, the Austin American-Statesman reports, “Research has shown that children who are Hispanic or African American, or who come from low-income families tend to have higher levels of physical inactivity and obesity, putting them at higher risk of developing such health problems as diabetes and heart, joint and bone diseases. Low-income students in Austin tend to be less fit than students from wealthier families. And Austin's Hispanic students tend to be less fit than students of other races, according to state data. State figures also show that the scores of low-income, African American and Hispanic students lag behind those of students overall on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.”

At Heart House, we support health and fitness through our partnerships with Meals on Wheels and More, the Capital Area Food Bank, Active Life, Shoes for Austin and many others. While these collaborations support fitness in a variety of ways, there is one underlying theme that connects them all: supporting positive attitudes toward fitness. Whether students are trying new, healthy foods during their daily snack at Heart House or learning a fun game to play outdoors, Heart House works to develop excitement and curiosity around physical health. Heart House students even get regular outdoor free time to play football, jump rope, hula hoop and participate in many more active games with our great volunteers.

Although some populations may be more vulnerable to the negative effects of inactivity, becoming physically fit can help all students become more successful in school and in life and that’s what Heart House is all about!

SOURCES: Bloom, Molly (2009, March 10) Fit Student, Fit Mind? The Austin American-Statesman. www.statesman.com.  Cooper Institute, The (2009) Fitnessgram Program Overview. Retrieved March 10, 2009 from www.fitnessgram.net.

March continues our exploration of “Read, Write, Rock On!”  Students are working on a variety of reading and writing skills, including reader’s theatre and book writing. When we return from spring break, we are excited to begin our culminating project, the creation of a Heart House newspaper! Each student and group will play a special role in the development of this newspaper. Furthermore, each center will be able to share its final creation with each other.

   

In February, students were able to experience a variety of fun reading & writing activities focused on a wide range of cool topics such as music writing, comics, environmental print, digital media, and much more! Groups created public service announcements, some practiced joke writing, and others mastered their phonics skills through art and games. 

Special Guests/Events:

Stuart Stutzman facilitated a special “Stand-Up Comedy” workshop at Heart House North for Fun Friday!

Come visit us!  We have some great summer open house events where you can check our exemplary program for yourself.  See you there!

Dr. Prabhakar Malireddy is founder and President of SourcePulse, a company of 30+ headquartered in Austin that provides a full range of services including management consulting, solutions delivery and managed services to fulfill its mission to improve the operational performance of its clients.  On behalf of SourcePulse, Dr. Malireddy reached out to Heart House after discovering our website. The company was looking to make a meaningful financial investment in the community and did its due diligence by visiting Heart House and exploring our program and its benefits to children and working families. 

When asked why he and SourcePulse chose Heart House, Dr. Malireddy said, “We believe strongly in equal chances for all children to succeed despite their economic inequalities. We know it’s difficult for some families to provide after-school care for their children as they need to work long hours to make both ends meet. Heart House is striving to keep kids safe after school hours and also to keep them on academic track so that they can grow up into responsible citizens.”
Dr. Malireddy values education and takes pride in the fact that he and his siblings, despite a modest upbringing in India, have all achieved extremely high levels of educational attainment. He holds a Ph.D. in computer science and is part of several strategic projects at MIT as part of his post doctoral research. Prior to founding SourcePulse, Dr. Malireddy was the Director of Engineering at CommerceOne and made leading contributions at other software companies prior to that.

SourcePulse is an IBM business partner and provides services to many State of Texas Agencies, such as the Texas Health & Human Services Commission and the Texas Education Agency. The company provides its valuable services in a manner such that its clients may remain flexible to meet changing business needs and easily reconfigure their technology in the future.
Dr. Malireddy is truly a visionary business leader; therefore, Heart House is honored to receive such a generous donation from him and SourcePulse, which will fund program activities at both Heart House sites for two months and allow us to continue to support working families.

Thank you so much, February and March donors!

Andy Land
Anonymous Donor
Barbara Hopson
CeCe Ridder
Claire Jardine
Courtney  H. Moore
Emeka Obianwu
Foundation Communities
IBM Employee Svc. Center
Jason Foley
Jessica & Sam Sacheck
John Floyd
KDK-Harman Foundation
KLE Foundation
Laurie Loew
Michael Jacobs
Stuart R. Hobbie
Suzanne Hershey
Teresa Howard
Teri Sanchez
United Way Capital Area SECC (State Employees)
Wanda B. Carr
Women's Fund of Central Texas

These are just some of the wonderful children you help support with your gifts of time and funding.  THANK YOU for making a difference for these future citizens!

We are so excited to have Michelle in our program. She is a Kindergartner in Ms. Shauna’s class who always stays on task, listens respectfully, and works well with others. You can usually find her with a book in her hand---she LOVES to read! All of the other kids enjoy her warmth and happiness. (Nominated by Ms. Shauna)

Sofia has only been at Heart House for a couple of weeks, but she is already a rockstar as far as her program leader is concerned. Sofia has quickly overcome her shyness, and we have seen her settling conflicts between her peers, comforting friends whose feelings have been hurt, and encouraging others to share her ever-positive attitude. She is an excellent role-model and never has to be asked to clean up after herself, raise her hand before speaking, or sit in her assigned seat. She has gone out of her way to make all of the program leaders and volunteers feel appreciated and to help them out whenever possible. (Nominated by Ms. Rebecca)

Sophia helps her program leader and volunteers set up activities with a smile.  Whether it is returning items that belong to her class, or explaining (very nicely, of course) to some of her fellow Heart Housers why they should behave, Sophia is always willing to help. She's great! (Nominated by Ms. Jenny)

Hudson is always helping others and doing what is expected of him without being asked. He has great manners and really stands out among his peers. Hudson is a superstar! (Nominated by Mr. Paul)

Read more Student Spotlight posts on the Heart House blog.

See more photos in our online scrapbook at www.hearthouse.org/photo.htm.
     

  
The Heart House Herald is an online publication of Heart House, a free afterschool program dedicated to providing a safe haven and academic support to low-income children and encouraging them to become good citizens.  

www.hearthouse.org