Join Us on December 10th at the Driskill Hotel

Join the Heart House board and staff for lunch at the Driskill Hotel on Wednesday, December 10th!

In the spirit of the holiday season, the Driskill Hotel is inviting the community to share in a series of events and celebrations during its "12 Days of Driskill" festivities. Every day, from December 5-16, a Victorian Holiday Tea will be held in our Grand Lobby from 3-5 pm. Each evening, carolers from local schools will perform in front of the tree, with special food and desserts available from the 1886 Café and Bakery.

Heart House was selected as one of 12 local charities to be honored by the Driskill and the community during this celebration. A portion of the proceeds from meals and tea will be given directly to Heart House.

So if you're planning to have breakfast, lunch, dinner, coffee or tea downtown on Wednesday, December 10th, please make the Driskill Hotel your choice for the day, and help the children of Heart House this holiday season!

Many of the Heart House board and staff members will be at the Driskill for lunch at noon. Please feel free to join our festive table!

Driskill Hotel: http://www.driskillhotel.com/austin-restaurants.php

What's New? Cool Community Collaborations!

Heart House’s program is enriched by the valuable community partnerships we have made in Austin. Without these meaningful relationships, our children would lack wonderful opportunities to experience the arts, learn life skills, explore and tap into talents, and interact with positive adult role models. This month, we’d like to highlight some of our special community collaborations for the 2008-2009 school year:

Green Corn Project is working with Heart House to maintain our community garden. They have already planted fruits and veggies with our kids and now we wait impatiently for harvest time! Green Corn’s volunteers are dedicated and enthusiastic about teaching kids about healthier living and how to have great green thumbs! For more info about Green Corn Project please visit: http://www.greencornproject.org/gc

Paramount Theatre’s outreach program called “Skinny’s Gallery” provides Heart House families with ongoing opportunities to attend performances for free on the weekends! Some of the shows we have already checked out include “Jungle Jack Hannah” and “Seussical the Musical”. We look forward to the next 5 shows offered to us from now through May! For more info about Paramount Theatre & the “Skinny’s Gallery” program please visit: http://www.austintheatre.org.

Our partnership with Meals on Wheels and More is incredibly significant for our kids and program. They provide free daily meals for our kids which serve as healthy snacks in our program. They also provide ongoing programming and support to help after school programs instill healthier eating and nutrition in their learning communities. For more info on Meals on Wheels and More please visit: http://www.mealsonwheelsandmore.org.

Youth InterACTIVE is a NEW partnership this year which we are looking forward to! We will be featuring their ACTIVE Life Challenge in the spring as a family and community health component in our program. The challenge will encourage Heart House families to participate in fun health activities together, while earning a chance for rewards once the program is complete! For more info on Youth Interactive please visit: http://www.youthinteractive.org.

Mr. Thomas is just “one cool dude”

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT:
Thomas Hill, Heart House South

“Mr. Thomas is here! Mr. Thomas is here!” was what our Volunteer Coordinator, Shelly-Marie, heard from across the room the second Mr. Thomas Hill walked through the door that first week of our fall program. His very calm, confident presence with the children is like classic jazz flowing through Coca Cola. Ahh! And wow, do the kids south just love him. It might also be because he comes in, on average twice a week (sometimes more) or that Mr. Thomas is, in the words of a Heart House child, just “one cool dude” that everyone genuinely likes being around.

“Volunteering at HH has been a very rewarding experience, says Mr. Thomas. "The kids are phenomenal and the staff is great. There is a sense of community that you don't find in most after school programs. The kids are funny, and it's great to just listen to their stories and adventures. I really like helping them with their homework, and at the end of the day, I love to just kick back and toss the football with the older kids. I cannot think of a better place to volunteer my time.”

During the day Mr. Thomas is an accountant at TMF Health Quality Institute and has been with Heart House since the spring of 2008. He is also part of a new Volunteer Advisory Board that met for the first time this month to contribute valuable views to staff from the volunteer perspective.

In September Heart House nominated Mr. Thomas for a Breakfast of Champions volunteer award through the Central Texas Aftershool Network (CTAN). His nomination statement written by South Site Director Meredith Meisetschlaeger read:

“Since March of 2008, Thomas has shown outstanding dedication to the students of Heart House South. His natural warmth, sense of humor and genuine interest in the lives of our students make him quite a popular guy. Yet despite a few arguments over who “gets to play with Mr. Thomas,” he manages to sincerely give his attention and energy to all who seek it. Thomas’ heartfelt commitment has made an indelible difference in the lives of our students and we appreciate him greatly.”




You may occasionally catch Mr. Thomas running races with the Heart House kids out back. It is no surprise that he likes playing football and basketball and bowls in a league on Monday nights. “I like playing dominoes, and I love to cook. I also try to go fishing at least once a month.” It is rumored that Mr. Thomas makes some of the best ribs in Texas- which course, to any Texan, means he makes the best ribs in the world! Thank you, Mr. Thomas, for being such a key player on our Heart House team!

What We're Reading (Staff and Friends)

Heart House is a learning community for everyone -- children, staff and volunteers -- and as such, it attracts life-long learners and readers to our tribe. Heart House staff members share what they're reading these days. Volunteers, friends, supporters: Add your comment below and share with the Heart House community what is on your bedside table.


Meredith Meisetschlaeger, Site Director, Heart House South
Milan Kundera’s Immortality. Although to be honest, I probably read The Berenstain Bears more than anything (haha).

Brittany Neighbors, Program Leader, Heart House South
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind
Next up: Soon I Will be Invincible by Austin Grossman

Diane Cannon, Executive Director
Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt
Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits by Leslie Crutchfield and Heather McLeod Grant (THANK YOU TO KDK-HARMAN FOUNDATION FOR THIS GIFT!

Shelly-Marie Rios, Volunteer Coordinator
The World as a Total System by Kenneth E. Boulding
Foundation's Edge, Isaac Asimov
Why Geography Matters: Three Challenges Facing America: Climate Change, the Rise of China, and Global Terrorism, Harm de Blij
Insects of the World, Walter Linsenmaier
Peace Not Apartheid, Jimmy Carter
Latest edition of Elle Décor Italia magazine
Latest edition of Dwell magazine
And always my I Ching

Monica Armendariz, Program Director
Unfortunately, I am not reading anything right now. But when I travel to Ireland, I plan to start reading the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. Either that or I’ll pick back up on Book 13 of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series.

Megan Heredia, Development Coordinator
Just finished "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer (easy, guilty pleasure read....plus, I had to know what all the fuss was about!) and also "Year of Wonders" (amazing!) by Geraldine Brooks.Am currently reading "Ghost: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent"by Fred Burton (I love all of the conspiracy theory stuff...) and "How They Achieved: Stories of Personal Achievement and Business Success" by Lucinda Watson (very inspiring!)

Anna Land, Founder
Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin
Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt by H.W. Brands
Some Assembly Required by Thom Singer (HH Board member)
Magazines: The Sun, Mental Floss, Lucky, Economist, Ode, Wired
The owner's manual to a yet-unused digital camera
What's next: Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell

Curiosity: The Fuel of Development

Heart House has three beliefs upon which we build our program:

• Critical thinking skills are a liberating force in education and a powerful resource in one’s personal and civic life. We should and can teach children to be critical thinkers.
• Children are “smart” in different ways. We will honor the multiple intelligences of our Heart House children.
• Curiosity is one of the most fundamental tools children can bring to their early learning experiences. We will model and foster curiosity as a highly esteemed value at Heart House.

In this blog post, the Heart House tribe would like to share a bit more about this third bulleted belief that revolves around our love of CURIOSITY.

"Being curious about the world around us is an important part of learning. When children show an interest in wanting to find out about how things work and when they ask why things happen, it shows that they are developing skills they will need for later learning. We can encourage this interest in learning by talking with children about the things they wonder about and explaining things that may seem quite familiar to us, but are a source of curiosity for children -- like what happens to water that goes down the drain." - Mr. (Fred) Rogers




Asking questions to promote learning and sharing is important to all disciplines. We believe:

• Questions are as powerful as answers (and opinions) in the creation of change.
• There is an art to asking refined & powerful questions.

Heart House employs a 4-part questioning strategy to stimulate maximum participlation during the activities. This method helps focus and direct the discussion. Best of all, it’s easy to learn and implement. The idea behind this strategy is that by structuring our questions in a certain way, we can guide the group of children on their journey through a stimulating and interesting dialogue.

1. Selective Perception Questions: Questions start here are with “no brainer” questions that have no right or wrong answer, that surface the facts of the discussion, that directly observable data. This part of the questioning also serves to put the group at ease and begin a common understanding of the facts.
   
2. Emotional Reaction Questions: The group leader next asks a reflective question, which elicits the participants’ feeling and associated ideas about the experience, activity or situation. We suggest you spend extra time here to more fully engage the group.
   
3. Sense-Making Questions: Everyone assigns meaning to data based on our unique filters (beliefs, drives and experiences). Through sense-making questions, children are encouraged to examine the meaning or value of the experience, activity, or
   situatio. Group members begin to synthesize the happenings of the experience and realize its effect upon the group.
4. Action Questions: We take actions based on our own inferences about data. Action questions encourage the group to synthesize the discussion or determine what the next step might be.

Here’s an example of a 4-part questioning strategy discussing an oil painting:

Selective Perception Questions
What colors do you see in this painting?
What shapes do you recognize?
How many objects in the room can you name?

Emotional Reaction Questions
What do you like best in this picture? Where are you drawn in or attracted to?
What aspect do you like least? Where do you feel repulsed, distrubed, or irritated?
What sounds might you hear if you were there?
Look at the painting. Now close your eyes. Which person/object in this painting do you remember the most? Why?

Sense-Making Questions
Is the scene inside or outside? How can you tell?
What do you think this shape is?
What are the people in the painting doing? Are they related?
Why do you think the mother looks so large?
What season of the year might this scene be taking place in?


Action Questions
What would you title this painting?
Where would you like to have seen more detail?
How could we use this painting at Heart House?

Open House Offers Preview Of Fall Fun, Recap of Camp Heart House

On Thursday, October 16th, hundreds of programs across the country celebrated "Lights on Afterschool" day, a nationally recognized holiday to promote awareness of after-school programs. On this day, we opened up our Heart House North center to community members, collaborators, funders, and families to show off the amazing things we've being doing with our kids and to provide others with an opportunity to learn more about the Heart House program and approach.



Staff and kids from both of our Heart House Austin locations gathered at the North site to prepare for their guests, and as over 53 people walked in throughout the night, they were greeted by the enthusiastic faces of our children! Our event featured an exhibit hall full of stories, photos, and samples of our programs and curriculum, a hands-on room where visitors could experience a day in the life of a Heart House kid through participating in a sample activity, and an interactive quiz show which allowed guests to learn more about Heart House!




There were many special moments which left an endearing mark on many of us that evening, such as having Heart House children give guests a tour of our learning center, listening to them read their published poems, and hearing their candid comments about their experiences and opinions.



We are thrilled that so many people stopped by! We look forward to planning future events to help promote awareness and engage visitors. Afterschool programs truly make a difference in the lives of children across the nation, and we are so fortunate to have the opportunity to work with our kids in our centers.

We encourage you to visit these links below to find out more about the importance of afterschool programs in our neighborhoods:

http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/

http://www.ctanweb.org/

http://www.hearthouse.org/

Heart House Elections

October’s theme is “Super Citizenship” and we have been focusing on major qualities of good citizens. As we explore these areas, we have been encouraging the children of Heart House to identify ways in which they can use these characteristics to better themselves and our communities.

We are thrilled that alongside our daily hands-on activities, we hosted a “Heart House Council Election” which allowed kids to campaign for a seat of their choosing within five major qualities of good citizenship: respect, responsibility, courage, compassion, and honesty. Candidates spoke with their peers at Heart House about how they represent each quality.




The project culminated with a mock election on Oct. 24th at both Heart House centers, allowing all clubhouse members to vote for their candidates of choice! We had the unique opportunity to provide them with hands-on learning about the voting process, and due to our gracious partnership with Hart InterCivic, who created our ballots and brought their voting machines to Heart House, children were able to use real voting machines to cast their votes.




Gregg Burt, President and CEO of Hart InterCivic, said the following about the experience, "It was extremely rewarding for Hart InterCivic and for me, personally, to see the children of Heart House get so excited about conducting their class elections on our voting machines. Everyone had a blast, and Hart was delighted to have been able to bring the children's classroom lessons on good citizenship to life in such a creative and timely manner. It was great to witness their participation in something as precious as the right to vote."


The council will serve a very valued and meaningful purpose this school year. As the council, they will meet regularly with our staff to make important decisions about programs, events, and issues at Heart House!


Congratulations on the newly elected councils!


Heart House South Council:

Kid of Honesty: Zed
Kid of Compassion: Ramon
Kids of Respect: (Tie between 3 students) Milee, Erique, Jonathan
Kids of Responsibility: (Tie between 2 students) Benjamin, Joey
Kid of Courage: Lanny

Heart House North Council:

Kid of Respect: Rosa
Kid of Courage: Kierra
Kid of Responsibility: Nene
Kid of Honesty: Jaela
Kid of Compassion: Alex

Foundation Communities and Heart House Partner for Family Success

Heart House continues to be grateful for and proud of its partnership with Foundation Communities. Foundation Communities is a nonprofit organization that creates high-quality affordable housing and empowers low-income families and individuals with programs that educate, support, and improve financial standing. Heart House operates its two afterschool centers from within Foundation Communities properties and serves the children of Foundation Communities residents. Foundation Communities provides Heart House with a monthly stipend, which greatly assists Heart House in its mission to offer high-quality afterschool programming. Additionally, Foundation Communities allows Heart House the use of its buildings at no charge and gifts all utility payments and other expenses, such as use of the computer lab, as in-kind, saving Heart House more than $100,000 annually! Additionally, we recently submitted our first joint grant proposal with Foundation Communities to a local foundation, which resulted in significant funding for both programs. We thank Foundation Communities (especially our friends Walter, Julian and Robin) from the bottom of our "heart!"

Studies Show Programs like Heart House Develop Deep Understanding of New Knowledge

Today's students will enter a job market that values skills and abilities far different from the traditional workplace talents that so ably served their parents and grandparents. They must be able to crisply collect, synthesize, and analyze information, then conduct targeted research and work with others to employ that newfound knowledge. In essence, students must learn how to learn, while responding to endlessly changing technologies and social, economic, and global conditions.

Programs like Heart House provide these activity-rich experiences. An excerpt and link from Brigid Barron's article in Edutopia is below:

"Traditional academic approaches -- those that employ narrow tasks to emphasize rote memorization or the application of simple procedures -- won't develop learners who are critical thinkers or effective writers and speakers. Rather, students need to take part in complex, meaningful projects that require sustained engagement and collaboration."

URL: http://www.edutopia.org/inquiry-project-learning-research

The takeaway from this article:

• Students learn more deeply when they can apply classroom-gathered knowledge to real-world problems, and when they take part in projects that require sustained engagement and collaboration.
• Active-learning practices have a more significant impact on student performance than any other variable, including student background and prior achievement.
• Students are most successful when they are taught how to learn as well as what to learn.

Read Along with Heart House!

Here's a few books we're reading as part of October's "My Community" theme. Read along with us!



In My Family/En mi familia by Carmen Lomas Garza Lomas Garza uses her narrative paintings to relate her memories of growing up in Kingsville, Texas, near the Mexican border, and to reflect her pride in her Mexican American heritage. The artist portrays everyday events as well as special moments of family history in crisply colorful, vibrantly peopled paintings and provides brief, bilingual background stories for each of the 13 paintings.

I Got Community by Melrose Cooper
Several young narrators deliver various rhyming stanzas ("I got a best friend, helps me loyal./ We got a thing no fight can spoil"; "I got a sitter, helps me safe,/ Pulls on my gloves so my hands don't chafe"). Illustrating these are Gottlieb's bright, simple paintings, rendered in gestural outlines and brushed-in areas of undiluted color, and depicting a multiracial crew.

Learn more about our programs!
www.hearthouse.org/

Watch the Heart House Video!

Wonderful Heart House friend Jay Rogers has shot a moving video of our program. We are so grateful for his immense talent and his dedication to Heart House. Thank you so much, Jay!

View the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J7zLZ706VM

Red Carpet Rollout

Both Heart Houses are pleased to report that the Red Carpet Rollout was a great success! Heart House North students traveled to our South center for day of fun and glamour to celebrate the end of our theme, “Lights, Camera, Action!”Students began the day by walking the red carpet which was manned with our very own paparazzi! Then, all students and staff were treated to the premiere of two filmed newscasts produced by our Mixed Media classes, a dance presentation choreographed by the North Music and Dance class, a performance of “How A Kid…” by the North On The Stage class, a performance of “Chicken Little” by the South On The Stage class and Heart House Idol Grand Finale! (Congratulations to both of our winners: Nene and The Soulja Boyz on a job well done!) Our Summer Awards Ceremony (our version of the “Oscars”) followed, as we honored the most outstanding students of the summer. Finally, students got to mix and mingle as they explored various activities together. Students chose from dress-up in the Costume Room, dance and photos in the Dance Party Room, “Making Musical Instruments” in the Art Room or Sports and Games outside.


Miss Monica can’t contain her urge to sing some Alicia Keys to the kids!

We are especially thankful for the time and hard work of all of the volunteers who made this event possible. We got to make some wonderful memories and meet lots of new friends!

We had such a spectacular group of special guests and would like to thank them for sharing their time and talents with us:

Heart House North Guests:

• Greg-Green Screen DemoDonise Hardy-Casting Audition Workshop
• Notre Dame Alumni Group-Creative Writing Workshop
• Rackspace Team-Heart House Idol Judges
• Travis County Health Services-Underage Drinking Prevention
• Lainie Frasier-Voice Acting
• Deddrick Porter from Teens in Action-Heart House Idol Judge
• Jeff Schans-Stunts!
• Meredith Johns-Costume Make-Up
• Bill and Chris - Gorilla Productions
  

Heart House South Guests:

• Paul Haygood & Co-Juggling demonstration & instruction
• LifeWorks presented “Tobacco and Minors” for older students and “Playful Parenting” workshop for families
• Austin Slam Poetry Team Member Tony Jackson- Mini-Poetry Slam
• Rehman Bhalesha taught salsa to all classes
• Master Eye Associates provided free eye exam pre-screenings to all students
• Angela Aja-Chefin’ with the Chef Marshmallow Cook-Out

And a HUGE thanks to those who made it out to both sites!

• A-Town Productions-Music Video Shoot & Production
• 4-H-Hula-hoop activities and donated free decorated ones for National Hula-Hoop Day
• Fermin Navar - Founder, Maison de Navar, Inc.
• Notre Dame Alumni Group –- creative writing workshop
• Luke McClory -- scriptwriting!Students of the Holy Cross High School

Share your talents with the Heart House kids this fall!

Ask any of the guests above, and they'll tell you that time spent at one of our Heart Houses was a highlight for their month. If you would like to learn more, please contact Shelly-Marie, our Volunteer Coordinator, at volunteer@hearthouse.org or at (512) 929-8187.

Risk-Free Way to Explore Volunteering at Heart House

Volunteer Orientations take place throughout the year at both Heart House Austin locations. Many of these orientations take place during the program hours so you can observe first-hand what volunteering with the wonderful Heart House children is all about.

For more dates and locations of orientations, please visit us online at www.hearthouse.org/volunteering

OPEN HOUSE AT HEART HOUSE!

The children are preparing a wonderful OPEN HOUSE at Heart House especially for our friends, supporters, former and current board members and volunteers on this occasion. Please feel free to bring friends, family, and supervised children with you.

Thursday, October 16, 2008
6:30 pm - 7:45 pm
Heart House North
Map: http://www.hearthouse.org/locations.htm

At this open house, you’ll:

• View artwork and other completed projects displayed
• Get a book autographed by recently published young authors
• See demonstrations of activities typical to a Heart House day
• Meet Heart House children, families, donors, volunteers and staff

Student docents will be your guides, and you'll be able to network with past and current Heart House friends. Those interested willl be able to learn more about our HALOS leadership circle.

For more information or to RSVP, please go to:

http://www.evite.com/r?iid=JLIYYPKLJLXOLNSCUJBF

Heart House Launches Leadership Circle

Come Fly With Us!

If you would like to invest in the children of Heart House and engage with similarly-passionate supporters in a dynamic collaboration, please consider joining our leadership circle, HALOS, as a member of the inaugural Class of 2008-2009!

We ask each HALOS member to commit to the following:

• Donate or raise $1,000 for Heart House annually


• Introduce two friends to the HALOS and Heart House family


• Spread the Heart House story throughout the Austin community


• Encourage others to contribute their time and talents to Heart House

JOIN NOW!

Upcoming HALOS Events:

• September 2008 - Membership drive begins


• October 16, 2008 – “Lights On Afterschool” celebration at Heart House


• February and May 2009 – HALOS gatherings


• August/September 2009 – 3rd Annual Heart House Charity Fashion Show!
  

To learn more about HALOS or discuss membership, please contact:
Megan Heredia
mheredia@hearthouse.org
512-929-8187

Volunteer Opportunities for Fall at Our Centers

In our center, EVERYONE has fun learning new things, especially the volunteers! Volunteer duties include mentoring, assisting with art and theater activities, preparing snacks, chaperoning field trips, and having fun with the kids. Here are just a few of our opportunities for fall:

Homework Time Volunteer
3-4pm, M-F
We love people who love homework! If you carry the special talent to make homework interesting and exciting to a child then Heart House is where you need to be. To most students homework time at the center is the only time they will have with an adult who can help out with homework problems and answer intriguing questions. You will have the power to make learning fun and challenge young students intellectually as well.

Activity Time Volunteer
4:30-5:30, M-F
Do you own a silly hat and tennis shoes? Great! Well, put them on and get ready for activity time at Heart House. Children sit in desks at school up to 9 hours a day. Activity time allows them to move their bodies, encouraging kinetic and social intelligence, muscle coordination and, well, just plain old fun! Activities can range from soccer outside to yoga inside. We bet you have exciting ideas for activities you can implement.

Behind the Scenes Volunteer
What’s going on back there? For those who are interested in seeing the other side of our program, we would love to have you work along side us in the office. There is always plenty to do and you may offer us different perspectives and keen eyes on detail. We can offer you a look into our inner workings, lunch and paper cuts. How exciting! This opportunity offers maximum flexibility.

Special Projects Volunteers
A few times a year we utilize volunteer talents on special projects that strengthen Heart House funding or public awareness. It may be that you can help us build our website or know how to coordinate fashion shows. We offer highly specific situations when you can contribute your skills and know how in your field to support our mission to the community.

Presentation Volunteers
Look what I do! It might be that you can only help out once a year. Presenting what you do for a living or a hobby is so exciting to children. It broadens the menu of careers available and brings in refreshing new people to the Heart House curriculum. Telling children how you arrived where you are is an invaluable part of teaching them how to put the foundations under their goals.

To volunteer, please call (512) 929-8187 or visit us online at www.hearthouse.org/volunteering

Fundraiser Only 2 Days Away!

To all of our Angels on the Runway guests,

On behalf of Heart House, I want to thank you for joining us for our annual fundraiser this Saturday at the Austin Music Hall. Your attendance at this glamourous and FUN event will help raise awareness and funds for the children we all care so much about --the children of Heart House. I look forward to celebrating with you!

NOTE: Although our VIP party sponsored by Austin Monthly Magazine is sold out, there ARE general admission tickets still available at www.hearthouse.org/angels up through Friday night -- and a ticket window will be open at Austin Music Hall Saturday. If you have friends you'd like to join you at the event, they can still buy tickets!

A reminder that the party at Austin Music Hall begins at 6 pm and the fashion starts promptly at 7 pm. So please be sure to join us early for food, drinks, and fun! Here's our schedule of events:

• 6pm: doors open at the Austin Music Hall; reception and silent auction underway
• 7pm: fashion show begins, so please plan to arrive in plenty of time to be seated at the Music Hall for the show; you won’t want to miss a minute of it!

By the way, if you're wondering what to wear to Saturday's event, be sure to check out our previous blog entry for tips from our lead designer, Joanna Ruley-Garza.

http://hhaustin.blogspot.com/2008/08/wondering-what-to-wear-to-heart-house.html

If you are a purchaser of tickets for others, please forward this important event information along to your guests. If you have any questions prior to the event, please call (512) 751-6942 or email mheredia@hearthouse.org.

See you at the runway!
Anna Land, Founder, Heart House

Wondering what to wear to the Heart House fashion show?

A lot of people have been asking us what they should wear to the upcoming Heart House Fashion Show. How to we combine Austin laid back cool with red carpet glamour?

For advice, we turned to one of our lead designers, Joanna Ruley-Garza.



In her article she shares her ideas for both men and women. Click on the link below to read the full article!

http://www.hearthouse.org/angelswhattowear.htm

Newest photos from our scrapbook

Here are the newest photos from our scrapbook -- the children are having a WONDERFUL time at Camp Heart House!


Mr. Bill helps kids storyboard for their music and dance video!



Nene helps “The 5 Bratz” choreograph their Heart House Idol performance!


Setting up the recycling center that EnviroKids created!


Lunchtime!


Ms. Yuri explains origami in Japanese class!



Cheerleading club, one of our summer choice clubs

Celebrity Designers Showcased at Angels on the Runway charity fashion show benefiting Heart House, August 23rd

Heart House is delighted to introduce our lead womenswear designer, Joanna Ruley-Garza. Joanna is an upscale eveningwear/bridal couture designer and celebrity fashion stylist. She is also a professional makeup artist and advanced aesthetician. She loves all things beautiful and wishes to beautify the world one woman at a time. She has over 15 years experience primarily in the NYC and international markets.

Joanna relocated to the Hill Country in 2007 with her husband and three beautiful children. She was attracted to the natural beauty of the area, culturally hip and diverse group of people and the growing business opportunities in the Texas print and film industries. She shows her line, by appointment only, in her South Austin Studio to private clients and boutiques and also bases her commercial Makeup Artistry/Advanced Aesthetics and Costume Design business here. She is presently Creative Director of the "Angels On the Runway" 2nd Annual Heart House Fashion Show benefiting the children of Heart House. She also can be seen making guest appearances on FOX "Good Day Austin" as a celebrity stylist.

Joanna's holiday collection was inspired by Yves Saint Laurent's Garden Oasis Home in Marrakech, Morocco, where she had the pleasure of visiting the garden and often dream of that special place. The color palette of gold, black, red and ivory are symbolic of Moorish Textiles and tile work. The feathered detailing is an ode to the exotic birds that make the garden their home. The faux snake skin is an ode to the garden snake that startled her one day in the garden, and the beaded floral detailing on some of the pieces is an ode to the beautiful and lush flora that makes the garden so unforgettable.

Heart House is thrilled to announce that Robert Comstock will be the featured menswear designer in the Heart House Charity Fashion Show to be held on August 23 at the Austin Music Hall.The international designer will showcase his upscale sportswear line for men in the fashion show, and has also made an exceptionally generous donation to the event's silent auction. Robert will design a custom, one-of-a-kind piece for the winning bidder (male or female). He will even have a one-on-one consultation and meet-and-greet with the winner to understand his/her tastes and lifestyle.You will not want to miss seeing Robert's beautiful designs live nor having the opportunity to bid on this one-of-a-kind piece on August 23. Tickets to this lush event are on sale now and going fast. Click here to purchase tickets.Heart House would like to thank Keepers exceptional men's apparel for sponsoring Robert's participation in the show. Robert Comstock's fashions can be found/purchased at Keepers.

Here are a few pictures of Robert's work:

Heard at Heart House

“Heart House is the most fun summer camp I have ever been to!” — Anisa, dropped in our “Ear that Hears” box.

“I had a great today!” — Anonymous note dropped in our “Ear that Hears” box.

Student in Badgerpup:“ Ms. Monica, why can’t we write poetry every day?”
Monica, our Program Director: “You can!”
Student: [Thinking hard] “Oh….yeah…I guess I can!”

Summer Interns Lend their Talent and Enthusiasm to the Heart House Tribe

This year marked a highly successful year for Heart House, including the addition of several interns who have worked incredibly hard on many projects for our program! They have taken on some amazing leadership roles, resulting in added creativity, productivity, and advocacy for Heart House.

A friendly working atmosphere and a healthy degree of responsibility balance the intern experience while at Heart House. "Because the interns are accepted and respected as peers, after having a great summer experience, many opt to continue volunteering during the school year,” said Diane Cannon, Executive Director. “This year's interns represent the 'cream of the crop. I am very pleased that our internship program benefits these young people and provides a solid foundation of training as they proceed on their career paths. Imparting these young people with new skills, entrusting them with responsibilities and providing new opportunities are part of a commitment that Heart House is proud to make."

Our summer interns are:

Alexa Wagner & Yuri Hattori, Summer Program Interns
The Heart House Staff is super excited to have two fantastic summer program interns this year! These ladies share a passion for serving children and give 110% every day. Alexa Wagner is a Junior at Notre Dame University with a double major in Environmental Science and Political Science. She joined Heart House in Mid-May and provided much-appreciated support to the staff during the summer planning session. The Austin native enjoys Jazz and African dance and going to movies. She has a passion for the environment and has been teaching a summer class at Heart House called “Enviro-kids.” Alexa is teaching them how “their actions can have an impact on the earth and its inhabitants.” The kids have already made recycling boxes for paper, plastic and aluminum and recycle their lunch trash every day. After graduation, Alexa plans to volunteer at a South American orphanage for a couple of years. We’re so glad she decided to share her talents and passions with Heart House! We will bid Alexa bon voyage in late July as she leaves for a semester abroad in London.Yuri Hattori hails from Takarazuka, Japan, about 30 minutes from Osaka. She travelled to the US in order to learn about American Non-Profits that serve children. At home, she teaches Japanese as a Second Language to children from China, Korea, Peru and Brazil. She enjoys teaching one-on-one. “It’s very easy to develop a relationship with the kids. We don’t have program leaders (like at Heart House) so when we’re short on volunteers it’s difficult. When we have events their parents cook Peruvian food and it’s great!” Yuri enjoys recruiting volunteers at her university to work with the children. “There are some college student volunteers and others who are professionals. It’s interesting to meet them and learn from them.” Yuri has been teaching Japanese and Origami to the kids at Heart House. “The kids are interested in paper crafts and in Japanese culture; lots want to visit Japan. It’s very important for the kids to know other cultures and expand their minds. I am very happy they feel that way.” The staff is very happy Yuri traveled across the world to work with Heart House this summer! We wish her all the best as she returns to Japan in August to complete her Masters in Policy Studies at Kwansei Gakuin University.


Yuri Hattori and Alexa Wagner

Ella Daniels, Anthropological Intern
Ella first contacted Heart House with a curiosity for learning more about the inside workings of a non-profit. In doing so, she created a special research project to observe the characteristics of our Heart House culture. Says Kendra, “Above all the skills and knowledge gained from Heart House, I enjoyed my experience being around the children. While I was supposed to be jotting down notes for the observation study, I found myself reading or coloring with the kids. Heart House's afterschool [program] has a good-hearted atmosphere. Kids are willing to learn even after school hours and they are having fun doing it! Heart House is a positive influence on these kids and helps build the community. I am glad to be part of it.” During the spring semester, she spent her time observing both Heart House locations in Austin to discover the many facets of our Heart House family and this summer she is putting it all together to present her findings. She holds an anthropology degree and is currently interested in pursuing future opportunities in a non-profit environment.


Ella Daniels

Timothy McCarthy, PR/Branding Intern
Tim is an MBA student at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University specializing in marketing. He returned to school after six years in the record industry hoping to change careers and become involved with non profit organizations. Tim learned about Heart House through Idealist.org and applied for a summer internship. He was excited to work with an organization that focuses on helping children as he has taught second graders about business in their community with Junior Achievement and participated in the Big Brother program and really enjoyed those opportunities. The Heart House opportunity gives Tim the chance to work directly with Founder Anna Land and Development Director Megan Heredia. Tim feels his internship experience has been nothing short of incredible as Anna and Megan have allowed him to work on exciting assignments and given him great access to everybody in the Heart House family. (no photo available)

Erik Jensen, Board Development Intern
Erik Jensen is a graduate of Cornell College where he earned his Bachelor's Degree in English & Philosophy and his passion for service began. He later combined his passion for service with education while working as a housing official at the University of South Carolina, producing extensive programming to better serve international students living in his building. He loves bringing out the inner potential of each individual and actively seeks out opportunities to help others. While not busy with Heart House's board development materials, Erik enjoys spending time with his wife (Kelly) and friends, cooking, travel and volunteering.


Erik Jensen

Kendra Kaderka, Program Assistant
Kendra works closely with our Program Director to assist in various programming projects. “My time here has given me the opportunity to learn all about the program, including creating the curriculum, getting guest speakers, and teaching the classes," said Kendra. "This summer I am having a lot of fun leading the Mad Science activities at the South site. Being with the kids and watching them learn in a fun environment is definitely my favorite aspect of Heart House!” Since the addition of her to our team in the early spring, she has connected us with a handful of awesome guest speakers from organizations all over Austin, she has taught several classes, maintained contact with important community collaborators and volunteers, and created her own Mad Science class to teach at our Heart House South site this summer! Kendra is a rising senior in the Plan II program at the University of Texas, majoring in biology. "She really is a dynamite lady, full of dedication, enthusiasm and professionalism," says Monica Armendariz, Heart House Program Director.


Kendra Kaderka


Abraham Arevalo
Abe served as a volunteer last school year working with the children in our afterschool program. This summer he is serving as an intern working with founder Anna Land to complete an organizational capacity study and help the Board of Directors analyze the results of this study. Abe is also working on the Heart House Texas growth plan by which Heart House will expand to 20 Heart House centers in 5 Texas cities by the year 2020. (no photo available)

George Freeborn Jr. and David Matthews, Heart House Culture Interns
The Heart House staff would like to offer a special thanks to George Freeborn Jr. and David Matthews for their outstanding work this spring and summer! These MBA students from St. Edwards University have undertaken a special project for their class in organizational management. They are studying Heart House culture and assisting the staff in developing a strategic plan to export our culture to the new sites in Houston and around Texas. David has previous experience as a swim coach and school volunteer and was drawn to Heart House by our mission to serve low-income youth. He discovered a perfect match between his class assignment to study organizational culture and our own need to expand our cultural knowledge. “Everyone at Heart House really cares. They’re personally vested in the organization. They bring smiles to work and are really involved with the kids. This is an indication of success.” George agrees. He has encouraged the staff to read “Throw Out All the Rules” and his regular presence at Heart House has encouraged the staff to take a deeper look at the way our organization operates. Every member of the senior staff has been interviewed by George and this process has helped put words to the elusive notion of organizational culture. He and David will continue to work with Heart House as we refine our vision and prepare to open the new site in Houston. We’re so glad to have these excellent volunteers on board! (no photo available)

Volunteer Opportunities at Heart House

Being a Heart House volunteer is an opportunity to play an influential role in keeping kids safe, engaged in positive learning experiences, and interacting with caring role models. Volunteering at Heart House is a fun and uplifting experience, and all it takes is a few hours a month.

• Camp Heart House will continue through August 8th, Monday-Friday from 9 am - 3 pm.
• It's not too early to be thinking about our fall program which starts in September!
• We're also looking for about 20 volunteers to help us the night of our big event, August 23.

Upcoming orientations at Heart House are listed below. You may attend either location for an orientation, regardless of which Heart House you plan to volunteer at. RSVP to one of the orientations by contacting Kimberly Truitt at volunteer@hearthouse.org or 929-8187. Or fill out an online application for Austin today!

Tuesday, July 22nd
5:30 to 6:30pm
Heart House North
7224 Northeast Drive

Tuesday, July 29th, 5:30 - 6:30 pm
Heart House South
815 Slaughter Lane

Tuesday, August 5th
5:30 - 6:30 pm
Heart House North
7224 Northeast Drive

Thursday, August 7th
5:30 - 6:30 pm
Heart House South
815 Slaughter Lane

Tuesday, August 19th
5:30 - 6:30 pm
Heart House North
7224 Northeast Drive

Thursday, August 21st
5:30 - 6:30 pm
Heart House South
815 Slaughter Lane

Student Spotlight

Heart House North: Gabi
Gabi, pictured below, is a rising 5th grader who has shown tremendous improvement in her effort and attitude at Heart House! Gabi has been attending our program for the past year. She has had some rough times, but recently decided to make some positive changes in her life by joining our Badgerpups creative writing workshop and learning how to deal with her feelings in a healthier manner through journaling in her spare time. She is also a current Heart House Idol contestant, bravely performing by herself and motivated to do the best she can by spending extra time working on her act during and outside of the program. She has truly matured over the past semester, and we are very proud of the progress she has made in just a few short months! We think she is a true testament to the unique role Heart House is able to play in allowing children to make better decisions and express themselves openly and honestly!




Heart House South: Peyton, Nhya, and Keishaun

Peyton is always listening and trying to help out in any way she can. Her participation is awesome and she is always very respectful. (no photo available)


If a question is asked of the class or a volunteer is needed, Keishaun is always the first to display daily examples of critical thinking with his quest for information. Furthermore, he is always respectful and supportive of his fellow classmates. (pictured below)




Nhya is always on task and super focused. She lends a helping hand to all of the students (without being asked) and has amazing manners. She is a fierce competitor and a good sport. Nhya has a fantastic sense of humor and she is a joy to have in the summer program! (pictured below)

Make Your Girls Night Out Our Fundraiser!

Our great friends at Tiara Tuesday have chosen Heart House to be the benificiary of their fun, free happy hour on July 22, 6-8 pm at Cuba Libre, 409 Colorado St.

Proceeds from the event will help fund Camp Heart House! (See related story about how much fun our summer program is!)

So grab your girlfriends and bring your tiaras (they sell tiaras at the door for the tiara-less!) Heart House ladies will be celebrating with the Tiara ladies for a wonderful evening.

Thank you to our friends and sponsors who make Tiara Tuesday possible: AustinWoman Magazine, Cuba Libre, Cupidz Clozet, and Majic 95.5.

NYC Men's Designer Robert Comstock to Showcase at Heart House Charity Fashion Show

Heart House is thrilled to announce that Robert Comstock will be the featured menswear designer in the Heart House Charity Fashion Show to be held on August 23.

The international designer will showcase his upscale sportswear line for men in the fashion show, and has also made an exceptionally generous donation to the event's silent auction. Robert will design a custom, one-of-a-kind piece for the winning bidder (male or female). He will even have a one-on-one consultation and meet-and-greet with the winner to understand his/her tastes and lifestyle.

You will not want to miss seeing Robert's beautiful designs live nor having the opportunity to bid on this one-of-a-kind piece on August 23. Click here to purchase tickets, now on sale.

Heart House would like to thank Keepers exceptional men's apparel for sponsoring Robert's participation in the show. Robert Comstock's fashions can be found/purchased at Keepers.

Here are a few pictures of Robert's work:

Student Spotlight: Kierra

Kierra is a fourth grade student at our North center who has been attending Heart House since the beginning of the school year. She is a bright young woman with creative project ideas and who also excels in our Reading Buddies program. One of the more remarkable things about Kierra is that she has a very close relationship with her younger brother who also attends Heart House. This month, when the older students created activities for the younger students on bullying awareness, she insisted that she be the one who work with her brother. (Both are pictured above.) Her and her close girlfriends at Heart House made a very entertaining video to promote healthy feelings during February’s “Get Fit” theme. Watch the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyXLUHMTV5A!

Heart House T-shirts

We have you covered for Austin's hot weather! Visit Heart House's CafePress Store to purchase t-shirts, tank tops and more!

Lights……Camera…….Action!

This summer kids will explore the world of performing arts and production. Students will have the unique opportunity to choose their production project. Some kids will work on staging a play, others will create commercials and advertisement, and another group will spend their time creating music videos. We already have an impressive line-up of guest visitors from the Austin acting, filming, and art community who will share their ideas and experiences in topics such as storyboarding, playwriting, costume and makeup design, acting, and video editing.

If you would like to be a part of enriching our performing arts projects in any way, please contact us as soon as possible! The more volunteers we have on board, the greater the experience and final products will be!

Future Teacher OK with Silly Questions

Sara Khanzadeh has been associated with Heart House since 2001 when she volunteered with the original site in Dallas. She also served as a Program Leader and Interim Volunteer Coordinator. Sara is originally from Dallas and first came to Austin as an Undergraduate at UT. “I moved away for a few years and just recently returned again in January to work.” When she’s not busy working as a Physical therapist, Sara enjoys photography, music, reading, watching documentaries and trying new foods. “I’m particularly interested in traveling to foreign countries to see how the rest of the world lives.”

Her most memorable Heart House experience was taking a group of Heart House kids on a field trip to UT. “They got to visit a genetics lab, see inside a student’s dorm, walk through the campus and try Tiff’s Treats cookies and Jamba Juice. I like to tell myself that it made a difference to them and helped them visualize themselves being college students. They were so excited by everything they saw. That was four years ago. I’d love to see where those kids are now.” The kids have certainly learned a lot from Sara over the years. “I hope they have learned to respect people that are different from themselves. I try to point out that being different is a good thing and something to learn from. I hope they see me as someone they can talk to about different issues that everyone has to deal with growing up. I like to take kids away from the group to have impromptu small group talks every now and then. They seem to like that kind of attention.”

Sara hopes to one day become a high school teacher to help kids think outside the box. “Heart House hasn’t changed my plans. UT makes me feel that for at least a couple of hours each week I’m not totally useless. I like to be goofy and ask silly questions. The kids don’t mind it. I can’t do that at work. Plus, I like the dirty, sweaty hugs. I can’t get those at work either.”