Rosetta Stone for Parents

Do you want to learn English or Spanish?

Aspire will be offering Rosetta Stone classes for both English and Spanish beginning in the new year. The classes will take place on Mondays starting January 24th from 5 - 6 pm. This is a great opportunity for all to either beginning learning or to advance their language skills.


Sample topics include:
• Learn basics such as age and family relations
• Questions, greetings, introductions
• Telling time, calendar terms, the weather
• Directions, locations, dining out
• Emotions, opinions, ideas
• Political, media, business terms
• Arranging home repairs
• Planning to move abroad
• Discussing the arts and tourism
• Careers and conducting interviews
• Problem-solving and commercial transactions

You can read the full flyer here. Sign up with Kim Morden today to reserve your spot.

A Great Day at Miniwanca

The Aspire program had an amazing day at Miniwanca on November 29th. There was fun for all ages. The middle school and high school students baked some cookies in the morning before heading out to do some team challenge activities. The Thomas Read students spent the morning on an unnatural hike up to Dare Dune and ended their morning with some drawing about what they saw on the hike. The New Era students spent the morning on the Climbing Wall learning to step out of their comfort zone and really challenge themselves.

In the afternoon the middle school and high school students stepped out of their comfort zone on the high ropes course. They challenged themselves with goals and met every goal they set. The Thomas Read students spent the afternoon playing with a parachute, decorating the cookies made by the older students and then finished up with some wacky relays. The New Era students took on the challenge of a Dune hike. They hiked up Old Baldy and continued down to the beach where they hiked along the beach into west camp and back.

There was also time to play soccer, take pictures, make some crafts, and hike some more. The food program staff prepared two amazing meals which everyone enjoyed to their fullest. Below are some pictures of the day. There will be another Day at Miniwanca coming in March! Thanks to everyone who helped out with the Day at Miniwanca, it was a great success and fun was had by all!

There are more pictures of A Day at Miniwanca on the Aspire Facebook page, click here for more!  Look for more Aspire events coming soon!

A Day at Miniwanca

There is no school for Shelby Public schools on November 29th. Miniwanca is inviting all Aspire students to spend A Day at Miniwanca from 8am to 6pm. This program is available to all Aspire students Free. Activities will include high ropes, rock climbing, dune hikes, crafts, baking/decorating cookies, games, team challenges and tons of FUN.

Transportation will be provided to and from Miniwanca for those that wish to use it. The bus will leave Shelby Middle School at 8:00 AM and be back at 6:00 PM. There is also an option to dropped off your Aspire student at Miniwanca as well. Registration for those that are being dropped off  will happen between 8:00 AM and 8:30 AM. Parents picking their child up at Miniwanca can do so between 5:30 PM and 6:00 PM.

Send your child to Miniwanca on November 29th for a great day of fun for all Aspire Students. Check out our Forms page at the top to take a look at the flyer and registration form for this day as well as any other events Aspire is putting on.

Don't forget the Family Dinner at Miniwanca on November 22nd! Bring the whole family for games and prizes as well as a delicious meal prepared by the Miniwanca food program staff.

Please contact Jamie Van Dee for any information, 231.861.2262 or jvandee@ayf.com.

A Letter from the Director

Dear Families and Friends of ASPIRE,

First of all, let me thank you for following us on our new ASPIRE blog.  If you are users of Twitter and Facebook, remember to find us there as well.  We have just completed our first month of ASPIRE programming for the 2010-2011 school year and it has been a blast!  We have had an average of 140 students, 1-12 grades attending each night and participating in some fantastic activities.  I have seen them working on homework, doing teambuilding activities, tie-dying, climbing dunes, quilting, gardening, painting and so much more.  I get to see all the students a dinner each night and we talk about how the day went, what really cool things they made or did at ASPIRE and about how awesome the food is.

This past week, we had two FREE family dinner nights at Camp Miniwanca, our partner in the ASPIRE program.  If you missed this month, don’t worry, because we will repeat these each month with new activities. These nights are designed to give each family (the ASPIRE student and his or her immediate family) an opportunity to spend a FREE night out together dinning and playing at Camp Miniwanca, meet ASPIRE and Camp Miniwanca staff, and meet other ASPIRE families.  In order for children to attend, they must have an adult accompany them on the trip.  We are also in the midst of planning the ASPIRE fiesta.  We will have food, fun and games.  Be looking for information coming home with your student soon.

Parents and families are a huge part of the ASPIRE program, so please let me know if you have any questions, comments or concerns.  I can be reached at the contact information listed above.

Sincerely,

Kimberly Morden

Why I Like Aspire

Here is a group of students talking about why they like Aspire.

Reading Buddies

To foster positive relationships between generations, Thomas Read and Shelby High School Aspire programs will begin a Reading Buddies program. On Mondays, high schoolers will create and prepare a lesson that incorporates reading with an extension activity. The following day the older students will work with a group of 1st-3rd graders.  This is a great opportunity for the high school Aspire students to take some leadership within the Aspire program. This activity will take place for the next five weeks and hopefully continue into the coming quarters.

Pictures of Aspire

Here are some recent pictures of what is happening at Aspire. You can find more at our Aspire Shelby Facebook page.

The Thomas Read kids building sand castles at Camp Miniwanca

Joey and Issac enjoying the beach at Camp Miniwanca

Ivan and Lazaro laughing and having fun. 

Oscar and Jered trying to dig to China!

Lazaro with the American Youth Foundation's Four Fold. 

Shelby High School Aspire students coming up with a team name with Annie.

Working on positive communication. 

Laughing together while complete a team challenge.

Archaeology at New Era!

On Thursdays at New Era for this quarter, Grand Valley Professor Angela Reed and six of her archaeology students are bringing us Project Based Learning lessons introducing us to the science of Archaeology.  The lure of the past will be used to engage students in math and science and language arts and critical thinking.  Aspire's teachers are linking some of their lessons to give the students more opportunities to "DIG IN!" 

Forms Added

All forms for applying to be apart of the Aspire program are located in the Forms section above. There are both Spanish and English versions. We have also added a Frequently Asked Questions section above to answer some of your questions. 


Aspire starts in 3 days! You can register your child at anytime. Keep coming back for more updates. See all of you Monday!

Facebook and Twitter

You can now find Aspire on both Facebook and Twitter. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for instant updates as well as photos and Event invitations. you can search for us on Facebook by searching for the name Aspire Shelby and on Twitter by the username AspireShelby. 

There have been photos uploaded to Facebook that are from last year's Aspire programs.  Check out all the amazing things that happen as apart of Aspire during the 2009-2010 school year. Be ready for 2010-2011 school year photos and events in the upcoming weeks!

Welcome to the Aspire Blog!

Welcome to the new Aspire Blog. This is the place for all of the happenings of Aspire. We are very excited about the upcoming year and are working hard to create the best program around.  The format of Aspire is changing slightly this year. There are still four sites, they are just in some different locations this year due to the new Shelby Public Schools alignment. The sites are as follows:

• Shelby High School (9th-12th Grade)
• Shelby Middle School (6th-8th Grade)
• New Era Elementary (4th-5th Grade)
• Thomas Read Elementary (1st-3rd Grade)

 All kids in each school are welcome to apply for the Aspire Program. Please contact Kim Morden if you are interested in registering your child for the Aspire Program.