Dream Cities | Baltimore, MD

Pimlico Elementary/Middle School
4849 Pimlico Road
Baltimore, MD 21215
Phone: 443-203-4993

Learning Center Director

Tanya Callender
tcallender

usdreamacademy [dot] org

Mentor Coordinator

Alyssa Brumis
abrumis

usdreamacademy [dot] org

Feature Story

From: Eric Lapointe/USDA

To: Angela Bonitto/USDA@USDreamAcademy

Date: 08/05/2011 04:01 PM

Subject: Fw: whatcha' think?

Here is the story Ansel wrote.

____________

Eric Lapointe | National Volunteer Manager | U.S. Dream Academy

National Office | 10400 Little Patuxent Parkway Suite 300 | Columbia, MD 21044

elapointe

usdreamacademy [dot] org | 410-772-7143 office | 410-772-7146 fax

www.usdreamacademy.org | A child with a dream is a child with a future

----- Forwarded by Eric Lapointe/USDA on 08/05/2011 04:01 PM -----

From: Ansel Oliver <anseloliver12345

yahoo [dot] com>

To: eric lapointe <elapointe

usdreamacademy [dot] org>

Date: 08/05/2011 03:58 PM

Subject: whatcha' think?

I don't quite know the standard term for Learning Center, vs. Baltimore Learning Center, vs. Pimlico U.S. Dream Academy Learning Center....but you'll know how to edit.

And aren't you glad to hear that the winners received gift certificates to the healthy eatery McDonald's? Oh well, guess you gotta give them something they'll actually like.

Hopefully this story below is at least a little better than the one on Patch.com, but that one did have decent bones.

Ansel

HED: ANCILE Solutions offers business workshop to Baltimore Dream Academy students

Are software solutions like brownies?

For U.S. Dream Academy Students from the Baltimore Learning Center, a chance to visit a local corporation offered a business lesson in creating and marketing—using brownies.

ANCILE Solutions, Inc., of Elkridge, Md., creates, tests and markets software solutions to companies worldwide. On July 27, company staff demonstrated the process for 26 visiting students by giving them brownies and challenged them to create and market the best one.

Working in groups of five, students were assigned stations with various toppings and asked to creating the best brownie for both design and taste. They also had to create a logo, slogan and marketing strategy.

“We intentionally put some better choices for toppings out because life is all about making choices,” ANCILE Vice President Dave Baca told Patch.com.

Company staff presented lessons about logos and slogans. Kids drew upon the presentations and previous lessons to create their own.

The students used an evaluation sheet to choose their favorite brownie and then worked to recreate it. Students presented their various ideas and then waited for a final verdict from the judges panel, which included Dream Academy mentors and ANCILE CEO Frank Lonergan.

The winning brownie was “Black and White Balance,” featuring a yin-yang design using only black and white toppings. Its slogan was “It gives you balance.”

The winning team received gift certificates to McDonald’s.

The day’s activity reinforced a previous study lesson that things must be produced and then marketed to sell. Baltimore Learning Center Director Yvonne McNair said students had spent July studying community development and selling produce they grew in their community garden.

Lonergran, ANCILE’s CEO, said he is considering book drives and other ideas to continue his company’s corporate partnership with the Dream Academy’s Baltimore Learning Center.

“We want to give something back and stay connected outside of what we do on a work basis,” Lonergran told Patch.com.

The workshop came nearly four months after ANCILE donated $10,000 to the Dream Academy Learning Center as part of their corporate charity partnership upon their grand opening.

ANCILE researched several possibilities for a corporate charity partnership and was impressed with Dream Academy’s ranking on Charity Navigator, said Marianna Noll, director of marketing and communication.

Noll said company employees were excited to host Dream Academy students “so they can see what it takes to become a software developer or support specialist and find out who we are and what it took to get here.”

Roughly half of Fortune 100 companies are ANCILE clients, including Proctor & Gamble, NASA and Lockheed Martin. The company has 80 employees in their corporate headquarters and approximately 150 in offices worldwide, including Australia, Germany, Japan, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

Celebrating National Mentoring Month

January marks National Mentoring Month and the Baltimore Dream Academy Learning Center was delighted to celebrate the occasion by showing our mentors how much their dedication, encouragement, compassion, and commitment means to our Dream Kids, our staff, and our program.

On January 27, students and their families gathered at the Holiday Inn in Laurel, Maryland to enjoy a delicious dinner, mingle and give honor to their mentors.

Our Mentor Appreciation Celebration kicked-off with a lovely award ceremony, led by two of our Dream Kids, Marcus and Vanity. Nearly thirty mentors were in attendance and they were each presented with a certificate and a personalized picture frame made by his or her mentee.

After an inspiring message from our center director, Tanya Callender, our mentors shared some of their own stories. "My mom was the type to never talk to me about personal things, even growing up” shared Mentor Shari Williams. “The fact that I can be there for my mentee, Destiny, and to know when I was younger I didn't have that, means the world to me. I would never want anyone to go through the things I went through without someone to talk to about it."

The sentiment continued throughout the evening as one of our mentees, Marcus, gave a warm and thoughtful speech about his mentor. "My mentor took my behavior from low to high, and for that I would like to thank him."

Our History in Baltimore

The Dream Academy Learning Center in Baltimore was one of the organizations earliest centers. Opened in 2002, the Learning Center at Collington Square Elementary School served approximately 500 student in grades Pre-K – eight, most of whose families live below the poverty line. The Learning Center at Collington Square earned the “Center of the Year” honor in 2006. With support from the Mayor's Office and the Baltimore City Public School Office of Student Support and Safety, the Dream Academy made the decision to relocate the program to a school and community in great need of comprehensive after school programs such as ours. Pimlico Elementary/Middle School in South Park Heights was identified and the program opened there for the 2010/2011 academic year. The Dream Academy is a key partner working with the Center for Urban Families and others towards the redevelopment of the Park Heights community.

About Our Staff

Learning Center Director

Tanya Callender leads the U.S. Dream Academy’s Baltimore center in the role of Center Director. Providing ten years of experience in non-profit and public management, Ms. Callender combines direct experience developing youth programs with hands-on classroom expertise. Ms. Callender has experience working with a broad spectrum of nonprofit as well as government organizations including FEMA, The Friendship Edison Collegiate Academy, the Department of Housing and Community Development and the Baltimore Urban League. Ms. Callender possesses a Bachelor of Arts degree in Africana Studies from the University of Maryland and has done work in Language/Culture from University of Valladolid Valladolid, Spain and Urban Community Planning University from Maryland College Park

Mentor Coordinator

Alyssa Brumis serves the Pimlico Elementary/Middle School Learning Center as Mentor Coordinator. Ms. Brumis is a Maryland native who graduated from Washington College in Chestertown Maryland with a degree in Sociology. Ms. Brumis has a combination of experience in youth work and program management having managed the MWR Navy Recreation Center as well as served with Americorps Vista as an Advocate and Community Engagement Coordinator for REACH! Partnership School.

Our Baltimore Partners in the Dream

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Maryland and The Maryland Mentoring Partnership

Center for Urban Families

Morgan Mentors, Morgan State University

Park Heights Rennaissance

Urban Leadership Institute

Wachovia Bank

Upcoming Events

There are no upcoming events scheduled for this learning center at this time. Please check back later.