Photo Friday

Mills French Café
First graders in the Thriving Minds after-school program at Mills Elementary have been learning to speak French. With the help of their teacher, Ms. Day, and their site guide Ms. Margie, the students decided to put their new language skills to good use, and hosted a French-themed café on campus for parents and other Thriving Minds students. Several students also were selected to make the school’s morning announcements in French. The students are continuing with their theme by doing a “Tour de France” to learn more about French culture and customs.

Photo Friday & the Thriving Minds Spring Break Camp "Career Connections"

Here's a quick peek into Thriving Minds Career Connection a Spring Break Camp that introduced nearly 200 middle school students from Dallas Independent School District youth to "behind the scenes" careers in the creative industries. The teens spent a week learning about professions in:

• music production, fashion design and robotics teens visited the Downtown Universities Center
• the transportation industry a trip was made to American Airlines DFW 
• music production, interior & fashion design participants went to South Side on Lamar 
• environmental services, architecture/ design services and library/media services the teens visited Dallas City Hall
• the museum industry students explored the Amon Carter Museum; Kimball Art Museum; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth; and Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, where they learned about curating, operation and exhibition planning
• health & science students visited the Gross Anatomy Lab at UNT Health & Science Center
• zoology participants visited the Dallas Zoo where they interacted with naturalists and botanists 

Come back next week to see more pictures & read journal/blog entries received from the youth in the program.

Photo Friday on Monday - A look at DaVerse Lounge

Enjoy these photos from DaVerse Lounge, a spoken word showcase for ages 21 and under. On Friday, Feb. 25, DaVerse Lounge kicked off its sixth season with an amazing collaborative show, hosted by spoken word artist Will Richey. Held at Life in Deep Ellum, more than 250 young people—ranging in age from toddlers to college students—experienced the arts first hand through an interactive evening of spoken word, music and visual art.

As always, teens from around the metroplex blessed the mic with their creative talents, including past participants from Carter High School in Dallas and Austin Middle School in Irving. Also on hand were students from the Thriving Minds After-school clubs at Cary, Hill, Comstock, Long and Stockard middle schools; as well as groups from St. Phillips Academy in South Dallas and Promise House.

With the help of ArtLoveMagic, a local nonprofit that creates live interactive arts experiences, attendees tried their hand at visual art in different mediums—from airbrush and acrylic painting to cartooning and collage—and musical improvisation with 3121, a trio of local musicians who led a jam session complete with drums and turntables. In the main lounge, a steady stream of spoken word artists took to the mic, accompanied by local reggae/hip hop band, Melody Memory.