Power in Connection: Beyond the Academics

Max, a high school senior who has been a part of our Future Urban Leaders programming for the past six years. Max will be graduating this Spring and is set to be a freshman next year at Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) pursuing a degree as an engineer. 

“FUL is all about providing access to opportunities. In middle school you begin exploring different experiences. Once you get into high school you have the opportunity to not only explore, but also to refine and build the skills you need to take yourself to that next level.”

When I joined FUL as a sixth grader, FUL was still in its earlier stages. We were small and there was definitely a family-like atmosphere amongst scholars and staff. As a middle schooler, FUL provided me access to many opportunities while also assisting me academically with my school work. As I moved into high school, I naturally became not only a Fellow, but also a leader amongst the other scholars. 

As a Fellow, Future Urban Leaders is all about College and Career Readiness, ACT Prep, and helping to connect scholars with the resources they need to pursue the next step for them. 

“For me personally, FUL has been able to help me make the best decision for me as to which college I wanted to attend. FUL connected me to individuals at a few campuses I was interested in, signed up for tours of campuses, and gave me all the tools I needed to make my decision. The Fellows program has also been huge in helping me prepare for the ACTs. I am happy and excited to be attending MSOE this Fall,” stated Max. 

Future Urban Leaders is about more than just an after-school program. We are here to do whatever it takes to empower our scholars and support them to reach their goals. We hope that through our relationships with scholars and the opportunities we are able to connect them with that they are equipped with the tools they need to lead a life they are proud of, but also to be positive leaders in our society once they graduate and move onto their future endeavors. 

“Student-wise Future Urban Leaders has helped me maintain my goals and academics with a 4.0 GPA. As an individual, FUL has helped me learn to be patient and observe situations. I now feel like I have the tools to analyze a situation and process how I should react. It has helped me in all types of relationships I have.  

The relationships that I have built through FUL has been my favorite part of being involved. I never had Mr. Kreuger as a teacher, but I feel like he has been in my life for years. I really look up to him and I know he believes in me. He is always pushing me to my full potential. I have really enjoyed the family-like relationships that I have built,” explained Max. 

The power of connection is one of the powers that FUL possesses that we believe truly sets us apart from other organizations with similar visions and missions as us. Connection and relationships are at the root of what we do at Future Urban Leaders. When a scholar joins FUL, they join the FUL family. As an organization, we are going to work to support and provide that scholar with whatever they need to pursue their interests and goals. We want to be at their high school graduation and beyond. We care deeply about each of our scholars, their interests, passions, and dreams. We want to empower them to achieve their full potential and to thrive in the life they choose to live.

Power in Energy: Thrive 2 Survive Yoga

We all possess an energy within us. If we can teach our scholars the power to harness positive, motivated, inspiring energy as children, they are more likely to become positive, motivated, and inspiring adults. This is where the power in energy can change lives. 

In partnership with Jamilla Carney and her organization Agape Yogastry. We provide specialized yoga classes that go far beyond stretching and breathing for our Leadership Intern scholars. The specialized yoga curriculum helps youth explore and learn self-care techniques that lead to improved mental, emotional, as well as physical health. Through these yoga sessions, scholars learn more about themselves, and how to better interact with their peers and the world around them. 

“Our yoga practice is centered on the four values of FUL; inclusivity, grit, empowerment, and dignity. I use yoga and mindfulness as a way to further help scholars learn, embrace, practice, and embody these values in a physical sense through moving their bodies and mindfulness, “stated Jamilia

These weekly classes often begin by providing scholars with a prompt. As an example, ’respect’. The class discusses how we respect ourselves and our bodies, and how when we are able to respect our own bodies we can respect those around us and be better members of society. 

The class then moves into a series of yoga poses and breathing techniques that focus on respecting ourselves, we keep an open dialogue about how it feels to be respected and why this feeling is an interracial part to them succeeding and reaching their goals. 

Each class ends with a grounding activity and or breathing exercises that forces scholars to slow down and just be for 5-8 minutes. Taking a pause and calming our minds can have huge impacts on our cognitive abilities.

“I have seen scholars tap into their energy in my class. When we recognize, feel, and harness the energy within us. We can then tap into our power to control our energy and lead with it,” said, Jamilia

Power in Creativity: Leadership Through Art

The power of creativity in children’s developing years is critical in learning how to express and cope with feelings. Creativity also expands a child’s mental growth by providing opportunities to try out new ideas, and new ways of thinking and problem-solving. Learning through creative activities, such as art, helps to acknowledge and celebrate our scholars' uniqueness.

During 2021, we were able to partner with Arts @ Large to introduce our elementary scholars how art can be used as a bridge to learning and practicing leadership.  

The program began with our FUL Values Project. During this Values Project, we would have an artist lead a unique activity each week that was centered around the FUL values of dignity, inclusivity, grit, and empowerment.  Scholars would have the opportunity to practice these values both individually and collectively through art and creatively expressing themselves.  

“We want to teach our scholars it is not what you do, it is the vibe you carry and how you do things, “ stated Adam, the program director at FUL.

Power in Play: Play with Purpose

Play is more than fun for young children. Play is the way children learn about the world, themselves, and others. Providing the space, time, and freedom for children to play, no matter how they play, also provides the opportunity to learn.. The power in play is harnessed by our Young Einsteins program. 

When our Young Einsteins program first began, it was to offer childcare for the younger siblings of FUL scholars. We wanted to provide a childcare service to save families from making two trips to pick up their kids from school. In more recent years however, we have grown the program to utilize STEAM learning and lessons to help even our youngest scholars begin to play with purpose to build the foundation for success. 

By definition, STEAM Education is an approach to learning that uses Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics as access points for guiding student inquiry, dialogue, and critical thinking. Research shows that STEAM education leads to youth who take thoughtful risks, engage in experiential learning, persist in problem-solving, embrace collaboration, and work through the creative process - all of these are tools we want to help scholars add to their toolbox at an early age. 

Our Young Einsteins have the opportunity to explore art projects and science-related game-based activities as part of their play.

“Kids at this age tend to miss out on science, because there is such a focus on reading, literacy and math. This is why our Young Einstein’s programming offers science and game-based topics - to help fill in the gaps of their exploration and learning,” stated Emily, FUL’s Young Einsteins Program Coordinator.

In 2022, our goal is to assimilate our Young Einsteins program to align more closely with our other FUL programs. We plan to do this through aligning our STEAM learning with standards-based learning to provide more structure to lessons and play activities we offer our Young Einsteins. 

Another exciting venture we are eager to dive into this year is bringing basic coding  through games to our Young Einsteins experience. Coding and computer science is in essence another language that, with early exposure, is easier to master. As a part of our STEAM programming, we are excited to allow our students to create and explore programming in its simplest form through coding.