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.

Photo Friday: SLANT 45 Project Highlights

Check out a few of the thousands of great SLANT 45 projects that took place from February through December 2010.  From producing a school-wide health fair to painting a mural to raising money for the food bank, these teams made a difference in their communities.

Photo Friday

This week's photos come from the premiere of SLANT 45 The Movie. The world premiere took place on Friday, January 28 at the Angelika Film Center in Plano, and the public premiere was held Sunday, January 30 at the Colleyville Cinema Grille. If you haven't yet seen the film, there are still plenty of opportunities left. Visit slant45.org/themovie for a list of locations and dates you where you can catch a FREE screening.

Filmmaker Mark Birnbaum arrives on the red carpet with Big Thought president/CEO Gigi Antoni and her daughter Analise.

Filmmaker Mark Birnbaum and producer Shelly Seymour take questions following the premiere.

FROGs team captain Will is interviewed by FOX 4's Clarice Tinsley as he arrives on the red carpet at the world premiere of SLANT 45 The Movie.  The FROGs collected more than 1,000 cans and raised more than $1,000 for the Tarrant Area Food Bank.

Clarke Cougars team captain Veronica signs a movie poster at the premiere post party.  Veronica's team developed a program to clean up and prevent graffiti at their Fort Worth elementary school.

What to do on snow day #3?

Stuck at home for the third day in a row and racking your brain for things to occupy your time?  Here are a few ideas to keep the cabin fever at bay:

1. Browse the videos on Big Thought's YouTube channel for a little creativity and inspiration.
2. Answer quiz questions at freerice.com and they'll donate 20 grains of rice for each correct answer to the UN World Food Program to help end hunger.  Build your vocabulary and do something good for the earth! 
3. Explore Google Art Project.  This site lets you browse exhibits from museums around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the National Gallery in London.

Share your suggestions for keeping occupied while inside!

*If you can get out, visit slant45.org/themovie to see where you can catch a free showing of SLANT 45 The Movie! 

Photo Friday

Students in the Thriving Minds after-school program at Long Middle School in Dallas ISD created this beautiful mural in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. The mural traveled to House of Blues Dallas for the 3rd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Student Art Exhibition held on Jan. 17.