At Lincoln, on Mondays, students are either participating in healthy cooking club or a digital media project. Working with a University of Maine Cooperative Extension nutritionist, cookers made homemade granola and parfaits the first week and stuffed potatoes the second week. They also learn nutrition lessons while cooking yummy snacks. This program was funded by a Healthy Portland minigrant. We’ll have pictures soon!

 At Reiche, all students now do math and writing at least once a week. Other activities include basketball, arts & crafts, art, drawing, yoga, and spelling games. At the end of February, some of our 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade girls will start Girls on the Run with Ms. Turner and Mrs. Stewart on Wednesdays during lunch and on Fridays during SAFE and SMART.

At Reiche, students continued to be involved in cooking, arts & crafts, drawing, painting, teambuilding games, yoga, soccer, trips to the library, playing in the gym, reading, and math. They also participated in some new activities like “Fun with Popcorn!” and “A Video Trip to Japan.”

Our first “Monthly Meeting” was held this past Friday, February 8 (it was rescheduled from the 1st, which was a snow day). During this meeting we honored a number of students who were nominated for different things by SAFE and SMART teachers.

The award recipients were:

Aniso Abdullahi for doing her homework diligently.Zakariya Ahmed for being helpful with clean-up.

Mano Ali for being a helpful leader.Ethen Brown for being an enthusiastic and talented young artist.

Jahreign Francis for being a good friend and was always being willing to help his peers with any task during cooking club. Letitcia Iteka for being the artist who stays most focused and listens to directions.

Faisa Jama for being cooperative, motivated, and a great role model in yoga group.Tual Kouth for always taking out his homework and getting it done.

Robert Ochan for always taking out his homework and getting it done.

Stephen Ochan for being a helpful leader.Loetitia Runyambo for being the most focused and improved knitter.

Getting started…, Students up drumming…, Kids watching their parents play the drums.

In October, A Company of Girls sent some guest artists to work with Lincoln SAFE and SMART students for three days on a Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) project. The students though about people importatnt to them (living or dead) and made shrines to honor them.

Lincoln’s SAFE and SMART program also has a partnership with the Center for Grieving Children in Portland. On Thursdays, several of our students participate in the Center’s Multicultural Peer Support Program, which provides support to children who have relocated to Portland from war torn countries and who have experienced trauma and loss.

We would like to thank our volunteers during the months of October and November–thanks to Ryan, Alfrid, and Maryam for all of your help!

A & B Groups: Ms. Cat, Ms. Farah, and Ms. Phelan have been working hard with our group of first and second graders. Students have been doing their homework, playing outside, and drawing.

• On Mondays, all of our A/B kids go to the Reiche branch of the public library with Ms. Cat and Ms. Farah where they are read stories and can take out books. We’ve been working hard to get all of our A/B students library cards! 
• On Tuesdays, some students go to the gym with Ms. Phelan and Ms. Farah, while others do arts & crafts with Ms. Harris. Some of their projects have included making apple trees and beaded necklaces/bracelets
• On Thursdays, students have been doing either yoga with Ms. Cat or drawing with Mr. Kennie. There is a Yoga display outside of Kerry’s (the director) office (on the stage). If you’re at Reiche in the next few weeks, come check it out! Drawing students have created a portfolio with three pieces in it–a self-portrait, a still life, and a super hero!
• On Fridays, students do cooking with Ms. Cat or math club with Ms. Phelan.  Cooking club has made trail mix, popcorn, pasta salad, apple crisp, and english muffin pizzas! If your child was in cooking, it would be great if you could make some recipies with them at home. In math, we’ve worked with blocks and done lots of addition and subtraction!

We have just finished our first session of specials, so now, students will swap and try the activity they haven’t done yet!

Take a look at some photos of the A & B groups in action: A/B Yoga 1, Drawing 1, Drawing 2, Math 1, Math 2, Math 3, Math 4, Math 5, Cooking 1, Cooking 2, Cooking 3

C, D, & E groups: Mr. Brewster, Mr. Aweis, Mrs. Reed, Mr. Pease, and Mrs. Turner have been working with our third, fourth, and fifth graders. Students have been working on homework (Mrs. Reed had her group working outside when it was nice out) and playing lots of soccer! They have also been trying a bunch of specials.

• On Mondays, students did book-writing with Mrs. Reed, painting with Mr. Brewster, or math club with Mr. Aweis. In book-writing and painting students got to use their creativity and make up any story/picture they wanted. In math, we worked on addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
• Tuesdays, students participated in a board games club with Mr. Pease, story time reading with Mrs. Reed, or teambuilding activities with Kerry and Mrs. Turner.
• Thursdays are library with Ms. Harris, gym with Mr. Aweis and Mr. Brewster, and cooking with Mr. Pease. In the gym, students play basketball or soccer and in cooking they made delicious dishes such as apple crisp, english muffin pizzas, and pasta salad.
• Fridays are filled with knitting with Ms. Harris and Grammie Bestie, drawing with Mr. Kennie, or yoga/movement activities with Mr. Brewster and Ms. Turner. Like the A & B groups, students from groups C, D, & E in drawing have created a three piece portfolio with a super hero, a still life, and a self-portrait.  In movement, student have learned basic yoga and relaxation techniques, and students in knitting are working on making penny pockets or sewing together squares to make blankets (which we’ll hopefully donate to an animal shelter later in the year).

Like the A & B groups, groups C, D, & E have just finished their first session and will be picking new specials to begin next week, the week of December 3.

Take a look at some photos of the C, D, & E groups in action:  Drawing 3, Drawing 4, Drawing 5, Drawing 6, Cooking 4, Cooking 5, Cooking 6, Movement 1, Knitting 1, Knitting 2

All students in SAFE and SMART also met with the SAFE and SMART bus driver to discuss bus safety and we helped to make posters to advertise Reiche’s book fair that was in October!

We’d also like to thank our awesome volunteers who’ve been with us in October and November-Danielle, Maryam, Melony, Sarah, Sasha, Brian, John, and Maja!

Welcome to the Project SAFE and SMART blog! My name is Kerry Salvo and I am the new director of the programs at Lincoln and Reiche. This has been an exciting year so far and throughout the year, you can find information on this blog about upcoming SAFE and SMART events and general information about what students in the program have been doing!  Enjoy the site and please send comments our way!