Summer in the City
Since the beginning of Love City, summers have always been some of our busiest times. From events, to camps, to volunteer groups to summer maintenance and construction projects and now preparing for the next school year the team stays busy. This summer is no exception. We are only one month into the summer break, and we’ve already had two volunteer groups, two weeks of summer school, basketball camp and five Tuesday night community dinners. The plans for the rest of the summer don’t slow down. There are more volunteer groups scheduled, more camps, more Tuesday night parties and the water balloon fight to end all water balloon fights (Westonia Water Wars) scheduled for July.
In the midst of all this activity with the team all heading in different directions every day to keep everything running, it’s important to have regular touch base so we all stay connected as a community. Every week we have a regular meeting, which can sometimes be transactional and operational, everyone goes over the work they have been doing particularly if it overlaps with an area someone else is working in (which it almost always does). Today Shawn asked for one person to share a story that impacted them from this week. Coach who is running the basketball camp at the Mackin piped up to share a story.
Daily huddle at Basketball camp
The camp is open to both Mighty Oak Academy students as well as non-students. The days are full of drills, and games, along with some guest speakers, and if I do say so myself, an awesome lunch prepared by our own Chef Bridget. At the end of the day today, Coach was talking in the final huddle about how important it is to love one another as a team and community. He finished by saying, I hope you all know that I love you guys, and without hesitation the Mighty Oak Academy students in the camp immediately responded with “I love you to Coach.”
End of the day huddle in Open Gym in 2017
The story brought me back to the early days of Love City when we had open gym every day. It was just Shawn and me running the gym full of 75- 100 kids every afternoon. Shawn would routinely tell the kids that he loved them. Most of the kids that came to open gym were boys and they would always look at him funny when he would say he loved them. “Are you a homo, Mr. Shawn?” they would jokingly ask. He would reply “no, I don’t see any problem with telling you all I love you; God loves you and so do I.” As time when on, when he would tell them he loved them, they would respond with “Love you to, no homo.” Making sure to put that caveat at the end. They had never or rarely ever had a man tell them he loved them, and the whole idea of love from a male figure in their life was foreign and sometimes scary to them. As more time passed eventually, they would just respond, “Love you too Mr. Shawn.” The Love of the kingdom had finally broken down their defenses and they knew they were safe and loved.
Hearing the story from Coach about the kids from Mighty Oak immediately responding they loved him too, made me think of how far we have come. The kids get it, the culture is being established, love is taking root.
Inga
The Reason we do it…
Mighty Oak Academy 2022 - 2023 School Report Card
In May, Mighty Oak Academy finished it’s second full school year. MOA started in January 2021 in response to the lack of education options for students in the west end of Louisville. With only 10% of households having internet access at their home, online school wasn’t working down here. We started with 27 students for that first spring semester, increased to 40 for the 2021 -2022 school year and started the 2022-2023 school year with 80 students.
A lot has been said about the effect of COVID on education but for our neighborhood challenges in education existed long before the pandemic. The percentage of students meeting standards in this neighborhood prior to COVID was well below schools on the other side of town. This year we decided to share the progress of our students to show that focusing on love, social emotional learning, and reading and math, students anywhere are capable of learning and growth.
As I finished our analysis of our reading and math assessments for our students at the end of May I was amazed at the numbers I was seeing. The percentage of students on grade level at the end of the year compared to the beginning of the year increased 164% in reading, it increased 44% in math. It’s also important to note that for those students that didn’t meet grade level standards by the end of the year, almost the entire school showed significant growth. Within each grade level there are multiple reading and math levels that students progress through. 60% of our students increased at least 1 reading level and 70% increased at least 1 math level. 57% of students increased more than 2 levels in math.
These numbers show me that all kids are capable of learning. As we look to prepare for the new school year, we need some help making sure that these programs can continue for the next school year. We have a significant deficit going into this school year. If you feel led to hep partner with us to continue please click the button below and join in today!
Fish Fry every Friday 11-7pm
Today is FRYDAY! A major part of not only the community at Love City but also an important part of the sustainability, we fry fish and smoke bbq every Friday. If you are looking for a way to support the community and get some great food, please come and see us!
2519 St Cecilia St
11am - 7pm
502-890-5988
4th Annual Westonia Water Wars!
It’s back! The largest water balloon fight in the west! Tuesday evening July 25 from 5-7. Come join us as we turn Westonia into a family friendly water park. In addition to the water balloon fight we will have a huge inflatable water slide, water slip n slide, ice cream, sno cones, cotton candy, and much more!
Nerd Louisville is back!
Next Friday, join us as we welcome back to the Fish Fry at Porkland Nerd Louisville for a game night! Grab some dinner and either join a game or watch the action! Friday June 30, Games start at 5pm.
If you are interested in volunteering or to find out more information about supplies needed please email: info@lovecityinc.org or call (502) 272-078.