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Celebrating SEVEN Years of Achieve Miami!
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It was October 14, 2015 when the room was taken over by the loud applause, strong embraces, and jumps of excitement that marked a team-wide celebration! Finally, the letter had arrived that would go on to impact thousands of students across Miami. After two years of pilot programs, Achieve Miami had officially been established as a nonprofit!
Leslie never imagined the significant impact her ideas would go on to have.
 What started out as a small Saturday literacy pilot program with 36 kids has now grown into a thriving organization engaging thousands of students and employing over 100 staff members each year! We now have six core programs that engage students from kindergarten through their first year of college. Opportunities are now available to our students in an environment focused on their success. They know they have people in their corner who believe in them and who know what they can achieve. As Achieve Miami has grown, so has our belief in our critical role in education in Miami.
The lessons learned since our beginning in 2015, combined with unexpected COVID best practices, form the basis of Achieve programs today. We know that students show tremendous growth when they are learning with and from each other. Primary school students are more motivated and engaged in learning when they are being taught by the older students and when the content is personally relevant and meaningful to them. The magic in our programs lies not only in educational gains, but in bringing together students from all different backgrounds and helping them forge connections and gain new perspectives.
It has been a beautiful journey to witness the meaningful connections between Little Buddies and Big Buddies over the years, to see the joy on kids’ faces as they jam out to music and grow into little scholars. And it has instilled a true sense of pride to see the self-fulfillment in each of our scholars as they carve out their individual journeys to success. In seven short years, we have already created a lifetime of change for many of our students.
As Leslie states, “At Achieve Miami, we have a front row center seat to positively impact lives of students. We know that by investing in our students, we are investing in our future.”
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We are grateful to Big Buddies Remi and Kayla for creating a soccer curriculum to introduce our Little Buddies to the sport. Thank you for sharing your passion with our students!
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We are so proud of our first cohort of middle school students at Achieve Music and their commitment to learning new instruments. Their hard work is truly paying off!
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Congratulations to Anthony, an Achieve Scholar at Robert Morgan Educational Center, for being recognized as a Posse Finalist! We love seeing our Scholars achieve amazing things!
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Thank you to Jack, a Big Buddy from Krop, for collecting more than 5,000 books for our Little Buddies and for involving the entire community in your efforts. You have no idea how much these books mean to our students!
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Introducing TAP: the
Teacher Accelerator Program
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Achieve Miami is thrilled to announce our newest initiative: the Teacher Accelerator Program - TAP! Combining the powers and skills of Achieve Miami, the University of Miami, and Teach For America Miami-Dade, TAP is collaboratively building a new cohort of teachers for our students and our future.
It is no secret that one of the largest issues plaguing education today is the teacher shortage and its crippling impact on our students, especially the most vulnerable in underserved communities. TAP will create a clear pathway for college seniors not in the field of education to graduate and smoothly enter the teaching profession.
The pipeline will begin at the University of Miami with a one semester spring course that prepares college students to become qualified teachers through pedagogical study and teacher certification support. Next, they gain hands-on experience through an intensive summer training program with Achieve Miami and Teach For America where TAP participants will teach in Miami-Dade County low-income schools. After entering the classroom in the fall, we will continue to support their professional development and to build a sense of community that will entice these new teachers to remain in the classroom.
Achieve Miami is proud to once again have the opportunity to address pressing community needs and serve as a think tank and community incubator to help uplift education in Miami.
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We continue to witness the magic of Achieve Saturdays, which bring together high school students from all across Miami to read, write, mentor, and play with underserved elementary students.  Two Saturdays per month at four schools across Miami Dade, you will find Big Buddy/Little Buddy pairs sprawled on their bellies, seated closely at a table, or sitting under a tree reading together, talking about books, and making connections with new friends from all different backgrounds.
This past Saturday, elementary students came in Halloween costumes, enjoyed their usual one-on-one reading time, as well as Tik Tok dances and candy bags organized by our amazing high school volunteers. It was a spooky fun time!
 Achieve Music is BOOMING this Fall! Our program has grown from 208 students last year to 300+ this year and we have a waitlist at all six of our current sites. We proudly launched our first middle school program at Caribbean K-8 Center and are loving working with this new age group. Our students have been hard at work in their daily after-school programs focusing on preparing for our Winter Festival! Save the date for December 8th!
Achieve Scholars hit the ground running this year and have already made tremendous progress in their college application journeys. In addition to weekly cohort meetings with our talented Success Coaches, they have also already taken at least one ACT pre-test, perfected their essays, and begun researching scholarships and financial aid packages to make college a reality for all!
Last week, our seniors participated in College Application night, where Achieve Miami brought together representatives from Miami-Dade and FIU to explain the application process, describe the requirements, and actually walked them through submitting online applications to each of these schools. This means all of our seniors have already applied successfully to at least two colleges!
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Give Miami Day is BACK and your favorite students are counting on you!
What? Give Miami Day, hosted by The Miami Foundation, is one of the nation's largest 24-hour annual giving events. For nonprofits like Achieve Miami, it is the biggest fundraising day of the year and plays a massive role in enabling us to serve our beloved students and families. Last year, Achieve Miami ranked #3 among all nonprofits in Miami, raising over $740,000 from 440+ individual donors!
When? Give Miami Day is Thursday, November 17th. Early Giving will be open on Monday, November 14th and stay open until 11:59 PM on Give Miami Day. Keep your eye out for the Achieve Miami giving link!
Why? Your support on Give Miami Day is eligible for bonus funds, matching funds, and prizes through the Miami Foundation, so your dollar is worth more than any other time of the year! Every dollar raised on Give Miami Day will directly support our Achieve Miami programs and amazing students!
Last year's overwhelming outpour of love and support truly validated the hard work we do to create opportunities that uplift and connect our Greater Miami Community. We hope that you will join us again on Thursday, November 17th for a full day of gratitude and giving.
We will reach out when giving opens -- we appreciate your continued support!
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Gratitude is the Best Attitude
We are thankful to Elaine Ellman, who selflessly asked for donations to Achieve Miami in lieu of birthday gifts! Her generosity and dedication to our kids inspires us all!
Special thanks to Elyssa Lewis for hosting a wonderful info session for new students at Palmetto! We love our community leaders!
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