Team ORGANIZE in Action
Where you’ve seen us:
Wednesday September 7th KIPP BALTIMORE’S Team ORGANIZE sent Parent Organizers to the Transform Baltimore Back to School night training. Transform Baltimore is a campaign to fully renovate and/or build new all city school buildings!
Monday September 12th KIPP BALTIMORE’S Team ORGANIZE presented the Transform Baltimore campaign and collected 67 postcards at KIPP Ujima Village Academy’s Back to School Night
Thursday, September 15th KIPP BALTIMORE’S Team ORGANIZE hosted a table at the KIPP Ujima Village Academy’s Parent Resource Fair.
Thursday, September 15th KIPP BALTIMORE’S Team ORGANIZE presented the Transform Baltimore campaign and collected 50 postcards at KIPP Harmony Academy’s Back to School Night.
Tuesday, September 20th KIPP BALTIMORE’S Team ORGANIZE had our FIRST All Core meeting!
Tuesday, October 11th KIPP BALTIMORE’S Team ORGANIZE joined over 30 schools to represent the Transform Baltimore campaign at the School Board Meeting.
Tuesday, October 18th KIPP BALTIMORE’S Team ORGANIZE hosted a training on Relational Meetings and community building within our KIPP schools.
Wednesday, October 26th KIPP BALTIMORE’S Team ORGANIZE joined Roland Park Elementary Middle’s Parent Meeting. The Parent Organizers briefly spoke about the right to a quality education for all children. This action was a GREAT chance for KIPP to connect and build a POSITIVE relationship with RPEMS.
Thursday, November 3rd KIPP BALTIMORE’S Team ORGANIZE joined Transform Baltimore’s SPEAK OUT. Over 40 school teams read comments from the 2000+ postcards collected across the city. It was a HUGE PRESS EVENT. Check out the clip of Parent Organizer Ms. Graham:
Thursday, November 3rd to Saturday, November 5th KIPP BALTIMORE’S Team ORGANIZE sent three of its Organizers to an official Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) 3 day training on leadership and organizing.
The IAF builds a political base within society's rich and complex third sector - the sector of voluntary institutions that includes religious congregations, labor locals, homeowner groups, recovery groups, parents associations, settlement houses, immigrant societies, schools, seminaries, orders of men and women religious, and others. And then the leaders use that base to compete at times, to confront at times, and to cooperate at times with leaders in the public and private sectors.
Thursday, November 10th KIPP BALTIMORE’S Team ORGANIZE, ONE CAMPUS TEAM planned an urgent action at Baltimore City Schools’ Board of Commissions.
Tuesday, November 15th KIPP BALTIMORE’S Team ORGANIZE executed a 180 person ACTION. Team and Family Members turned out for the school board vote on KIPP's lease to keep the Roland Patterson Building and move Harmony in with Ujima!
Tuesday, November 22nd KIPP BALTIMORE’S Team ORGANIZE had our ALL Core meeting. Watch this clip of us at work:
- When giving tours at KIPP, my favorite stop is the Golden Ticket Wall. I love to share with visitors how our students work really hard to earn themselves entry to some of the best college-prep high schools in Maryland and the Country for that matter! — Hilarie Szczygiel, Director of Recruitment Communications
- Working at KIPP has been liberating for me as an educator. I am given the freedom to really teach the curriculum but also life lessons and good habits, the way that I know is best for my students. I can see the impact I am making on each and every child I come in contact with, even once they leave KIPP. — Megan Hall, High School Placement Coordinator
- I love working at KIPP because I feel like I belong here! The students and staff are constantly working together to achieve success. We leave no room for excuses and take an active role in our future. — Nancy Poole, Alumni Solutions Coordinator
- I work here because I hope my life will have some small impact on the lives of others. I love our kids because they choose to be here, they choose to work longer and harder, and they choose to climb the mountain to college. If I can help them achieve their goals, then my time and effort are well spent. I love watching our kids grow into young adults who will have a positive impact on their families, their communities, and their world. — Mike Lucas, Ujima Founding Teacher
- KIPP taught me to be more of a gentleman than I was before. — Randolph Taylor, Alumnus
- I learned all I need for high school from KIPP! — Darian Wilson, Alumnus
- If there is a problem, we solve it. If there is a better way, we find it. If a teammate needs help, we give it. If we need help, we ask for it. — KIPP Credo
- What strikes me most about KIPP Baltimore is the dedication and passion that the teachers and staff members brings to their jobs. It makes my job as a board member that much better to know that I am helping to support such an amazing group of educators. — Hugh Cole III, Board Member
- KIPP Baltimore is positively effecting change in the lives of school children by producing extraordinary results. From my perspective, KIPP is Baltimore's brightest light! — Mitchell Whiteman, Board Member
- The public - private partnership of the KIPP model provides a high return on investment for the private supporter KIPP funds go far both in number of students served and in their outstanding performance. — R. Hutch Vernon, Board Member
- As I look back on why I choose KIPP Ujima Village Academy it was because of what KIPP had to offer. My daughter needed a school that was challenging and better than the average middle school. I was sold on the slogan Knowledge Is Power - and their commitment to prepare her for high school and college. — Janet Alford, 7th Grade Parent
- Our future leaders are our children and it is my privilege to work with the team at KIPP Baltimore to help prepare our students for success in college and in life. We teach our students the value of an education and teach them the importance of building their character and academic skills in order to succeed in college and beyond. We hope to help build a better future together to teach children to be happy, self sufficient, successful adults in this global competitive world. The greatest reward from volunteering at KIPP Baltimore is to see the tremendous joy on the faces of our students as they work together as a team, read, learn, grow, and help build a better world for themselves and for all of us. — Wendy Perrow, Board Member
- "I am so excited to see KIPP Baltimore opening a second school to serve children in my district. KIPP has made great contributions to the lives of young people in Baltimore, and I am proud to be an Honorary Board Member of this important organization as it expands its impact in our city." — Congressman, Elijah Cummings
- "With every new high-quality school we open in Baltimore, we raise the bar for what our students can achieve. KIPP Baltimore has been raising the bar since it opened its first middle school in 2002, and now with the opening of KIPP Harmony Academy, City Schools looks forward to continuing to work with KIPP for many years to come to keep raising the bar for our children and their families." — Dr. Andres Alonso, CEO of Baltimore City Schools
- I work at KIPP Harmony Academy because I believe in our school’s mission! Our kindergarteners are already talking about what they plan to study in college. I believe they will ALL get there because they choose to work hard, be nice and be safe each and every day. I have never been happier driving to school every day. Watching these little KIPPsters come grow into READERS in kindergarten is more than exciting! — Jamie Sienko - Founding Interventionist, KIPP Harmony Academy
- When you become a Team and Family member here at KIPP Ujima Village Academy you truly realize the movement you are a part of. KIPP holds their students and teachers to high expectations which creates an environment that empowers all to be the change they wish to see in the American Public Educational System. — William Stapleton - 5th Grade Science, KIPP Ujima Village Academy
- I love working at KIPP because I get to work with students who have a passion for learning and teachers who have a passion for teaching. I love how everyone - students, teachers, administrators, and staff - is willing to do what it takes to meet our high expectations. — Jason Farber, English Teacher
- I am excited to go to work every day because I know I will be surrounded by a team that is passionate about the work that we do and is driven to provide the best education for our students. Teaching Spanish at the elementary level is incredibly fulfilling because our kindergarten and first grade Kippsters are already able to have conversations en español! This will open so many doors for them as they climb the mountain to college and beyond. — Danielle Hewitt, Spanish Teacher
