Dallas Cowboy Gerald Sensabaugh Volunteers at Junkins Elementary

Dallas Cowboy free safety Gerald Sensabaugh volunteered in the Read Out program yesterday afternoon at Junkins Elementary.  He read Fishing in the Air and talked to students about how fishing has helped him as an athlete on and off the field.  Our community is fortunate to have professional athletes who truly care about giving back!

SLANT 2011-2012 Kicks Off at H.O.P.E. Farm

The 2011-2012 SLANT: Service Learning Adventures in North Texas program kicked off with a bang at H.O.P.E. Farm in Fort Worth on Saturday, September 17.  Twenty-five boys from H.O.P.E. Farm and nearly 100 volunteers grabbed paint brushes, hammers, shovels and more to implement the service-learning project they designed.  With a goal to inspire a healthier, more active lifestyle, the youth spent the morning installing exercise equipment, landscaping, cleaning up trash and painting murals.  In addition to H.O.P.E. Farm, they also worked on projects at a nearby community center.

SLANT is designed to inspire youth to take up the challenge of improving their neighborhoods and communities in unique and creative ways.  Daryl Johnston, former Dallas Cowboys fullback and current FOX Sports analyst, continues to serve as the chair for the program and Bank of America has returned as the program sponsor.

Thank you to all of the partners who helped make this project a success:  Bank of America, H.O.P.E. Farm, Cooper Institute, Chicken Express-Fort Worth, Sherwin-Williams, Chameleon Chamber Group, City of Fort Worth, Kelsey Patterson, Willie Amos and Big Thought!

Get involved!  Register your team now at myslant.org.

Photo Friday + Calling All Volunteers!

This Photo Friday's photos come from the Thriving Minds Afterschool program at McShan Elementary.  Volunteers from Bank of America helped students with their art projects and showed off the site of the flower garden they plan to plant.

We couldn't do what we do without the support of our volunteers!  Interested in helping out?  We have volunteer opportunities in the following areas:

Read Out Program

Thriving Minds Afterschool program is looking for enthusiastic, caring volunteers to read to school-age children in your local neighborhood school. Volunteers are asked to read to children and lead hands-on activities such as making bookmarks and creating storybooks. Books and hands on activities are provided for you.

When: Volunteers are needed Fridays from 3-5 p.m.
Age: Must be 18 years or older

 Thriving Minds Afterschool Program
Volunteers are needed to assist with arts and crafts activities, promote reading to children and assist with homework. This program is ongoing in 31 Dallas ISD schools with the Big Thoughts vision of improving the quality of education. Volunteers are asked to bring their creativity and materials. Basic reading skills are required.
When: Monday through Friday from 3-6 p.m.
Age: Must be 18 years or older

For more information on volunteering, please visit our website.

Hundreds come together to clean up McMillan Center

The recent West Dallas Community Center SLANT 45 project got us thinking about one our favorite things: community collaboration. Hundreds of volunteers from Bank of America, ExxonMobil’s Green Team, Trinity River Audubon Center, Austin Industries and many other local organizations braved the heat to paint, plow and plant on the grounds of the center where West Dallas youth have been coming for generations.

It was amazing to see the transformation that took place at and around the McMillan Center over the course of just a couple days, thanks to the hard work of volunteers from all across our city.

And in the end, that’s what SLANT 45 is really all about – working together to leave a legacy of service and collaboration that will last long after game day.

Visit slant45.org to find out how you can make a difference in your community!

Celebrating the Arts in Dallas

Staff, board and volunteers rallied together last weekend in support of Big Thought, Thriving Minds and SLANT 45 at the City Arts Festival. While students from Thriving Minds after-school at Titche Elementary performed a Jackson Five/Rockin' Robin tribute onstage in Centennial Hall, children and families gathered around the Big thought table to make pet rocks for the kiddos at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital.

In addition, representatives from the Super Bowl community service project, SLANT 45, were on hand to recruit and inform children and families about getting signed up and started on a service-learning project (you can sign up, too - right here!). And finally, we had a fantiastic children's art exhibit, sponsored by Prudential, that featured a mural, oil paintings, ceramics and reverse plexiglass portraits, among other things!

It was three VERY busy days, but they were also very rewarding. One volunteer shared a heartwarming story about a shy 4-year-old who stopped by the table to make a pet rock. After some coaxing, he collaborated with this volunteer to make a fantastic concoction of googly eyes, pom-pom balls and feathers - in JUST the right places. His father and grandparents were very pleased to see him interacting, and told our volunteer so. Cool, huh?

If you missed the City Arts Festival, stay tuned to our events calendar for other opportunities to come out and see what's going on in your neighborhood through Thriving Minds, SLANT 45 and other programs. Stories like the ones above are what inspire us to continue exploring new ways to make imagination a part of everyday learning for everyone.

SLANT 45's Citizen Volunteers

SLANT 45 is under way and attracting a LOT of attention! We are lucky to have so many groups and organizations throwing their support behind this project - from the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee to the local school districts to the mayors of 112 cities in North Texas and many more. Some of our most invested partners are the Junior League of Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano, Arlington, and Richardson, and The Links, Inc. from Plano/North Metroplex, Mid-Cities, Trinity, Dallas and Fort Worth. These groups were among the first to sign on and offer their services as volunteer partners - and they've been hard at work with us ever since.

The women of the local Junior League chapters are working as coaches' assistants. When a project leader, or "coach," registers their team, the League closest to them springs into action. Each team is assigned to one member, who sends the coach the information packet, playbooks and t-shirts. The Junior League member is also available to help the coach set up awareness opportunities and events, and give hands-on help and advice. This is the first time that all the local Junior Leagues have banded together to work on one single project, and we are certain we couldn't do it without their help!

The women of The Links, Inc. are part of the SLANT 45 Speakers Bureau. They have done intense training, and know everything there is to know about the project. When a school district, corporation or organization calls us and asks for more information, our volunteers are ready to go out and share their knowledge. Without them and the other members of our Speakers Bureau, we would be hard-pressed to inform everyone who's interested in the project.

A project of this size - 20,000 kids, 45,000 hours of community service - demands an all-hands-on-deck approach. However, our biggest pool of volunteers with SLANT 45 are those parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, teachers, and youth organization leaders who are serving as SLANT 45 team coaches for groups of kids in their lives. It’s easy to volunteer as a team coach! You get to set your own schedule, your own timeline, align the team project with the interests of your teammates and spend your time on something you’re passionate about! Most importantly, you’re involvement as a team coach teaches kids the value of giving back to their community.

We’ve had a variety of projects with SLANT 45. Some are done right in one’s own home, such as starting an electricity conservation campaign with your kids. Others involve sports teams like the one featured on this blog – Team Sasha, whose coach helped a children's basketball team start a Lego collection in honor of their teammate Sasha Okhotskiy. Others, like Stephanie, an afterschool program director at Clarke Elementary School in Fort Worth, worked with her group of students to come up with no less than FOUR fantastic service-learning programs.

There are many ways you can be involved. If you are interested in signing up a team, you can register on the SLANT 45 website – you’ll get all the (FREE) materials you'll need to get your team started AND an invitation to the blowout bash that’ll be thrown at Cowboys Stadium in January to celebrate your efforts and those of your team. What are you waiting for? Sign up today!