Last month we loaded up the flip charts and headed over to Montreat for our annual staff retreat. It was a great day, full of reflection on the work we accomplished in the year past, visioning for the coming year and a healthy dose of self-care to prepare us for the work ahead.
Last fall, Amy Arias, a student at Erwin High School, and Josue Lomeli-Garcia, a student at Asheville High School, worked at Erwin Middle School through United Way of Buncombe County's Middle School Success Initiative, as part of their senior project.
The Homework Diner at Enka-Candler last night was a huge success! We served over 180 students and family members from the Enka-Candler community.
Did you know that in Asheville and Buncombe County, children who live in poverty graduate from high school at a rate of 78% while their classmates graduate at a rate of more than 95%? While every student faces challenges, those who live in poverty must navigate significantly more obstacles in order to make it to graduation. And graduation is critical; every student that doesn’t faces a life filled with greater obstacles - impacting their long-term health and income and often determining whether or not they live in poverty the rest of their life.
The Asheville Buncombe Middle Grades Network brings together Asheville City Schools, Buncombe County Schools and community partners around a shared vision of creating success ready 9th graders and improving graduation rates, using a collective impact approach.
This week, United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County’s Middle School Success Initiative hosted a two day conference with members of the Middle Grades Network.
Michelle was ready to go back to school and finish her bachelor’s degree. Like so many others, Michelle had started college but her plans were sidelined by family health emergencies, financial setbacks and the birth of her beautiful daughter.
America’s Promise Alliance, who lead an alliance of organizations, communities and individuals dedicated to making the promise of America real for every child, recently higlighted UWABC's Laura Elliot for their community leader spotlight.
To read the full article, click here.
With your help, we're able to make sure kids and teens in our community are ready to learn on the first day of classes. Each year, you've given a little more or helped us spread the word and the annual Back to School Supply Drive has grown in success. When all is said and done, we'll have sent more than 1,350 fully-stocked backpacks to students in our community than any other year.
Summer officially started on June 21, but we're already looking ahead to the first day of the 2015-2016 school year. Sometimes the difference between an A student and a failing student is having basic school supplies to do homework and participate in class. Nearly one in four children in our community live in poverty and can’t afford tools like notebooks, pencils, or backpacks to start the school year.
