Young people and students
Ian Inspires Passion In Schools
It was after attending Holmes High School in Covington, graduating from Northern Kentucky University with a bachelor’s degree in radio and television, and working at ESPN that Ian Smith, founder and CEO of Skool Aid, realized he wasn’t following his passion. So, he took a part time job substitute teaching and began pursuing a master’s degree in special education. But, it turned out that wasn’t his thing either. Music (and fun), now THAT was Ian’s THING!
Ian developed a program he called Movement in Music, a class that incorporates the rhythmic sounds of Ian’s drum with physical fitness games to teach kids about good sportsmanship, teamwork, and other life skills. It was an idea that caught on. Soon he was being hired by schools from Pleasant Ridge to Kenton County. “Then I began thinking, if I am building relationships with all these districts, why not help other teaching artists have an opportunity too to pass along their passions to students?,” Ian told me.
Some five years later, his organization that he named Skool Aid includes 25 teachers presenting 28 different programs to area schools, mostly for afterschool programming. Skool-Aid is also contracted by LADD, Inc.’s Cincinnati ReelAbilities Film Festival to present ReelEducation in area schools, teaching children about appreciating and understanding differences.
Along the way Ian reconnected with a childhood friend, Jake Counts, who recently retired from professional wheelchair basketball. Together they began talking to classes and entire schools about disabilities and adaptive sports. Then they began incorporating a fun game of Jake’s sport into their program.They gathered parts to build wheelchairs so they could teach kids about wheelchair basketball, and then realized, Cincinnati offered no opportunities for young people who use wheelchairs to actually play and compete in the sport.
Ian and Jake began working with the Cincinnati Recreation Commission to create a team for adults called the Cincinnati Royals, and organized the Cincinnati Dragons team for children 14 and under(under the umbrella of the Greater Cincinnati Adaptive Sports Club). They are in the process of expanding to also have a junior varsity team.
In Ian’s Words
“One reason I am really passionate about this work because it is an opportunity to empower other teachers to work with kids, develop a class teaching what they are good at, and do that they are on earth to do. If I can supplement their income by their teaching kids their passion, then these educators are also influencing kids to identify their passion
Jake and my presentations open the eyes of kids who might not have anyone in their lives who has a disability. By seeing and getting to know Jake and how he is just like them in many ways, they come to realize that they can have commonalities with anyone who is different from themselves.”
Her Job Helps Kids Be Just Kids
Lily Raphael is program manager for a nonprofit organization that has a soft spot in my heart, UpSpring. If you are unfamiliar, each year UpSpring removes barriers in the way of classroom and life success for more than 3,000 Greater Cincinnati youth experiencing homelessness. The 
organization recently wrapped up a very successful school supply drive. Being a part of it, getting to see firsthand the impact of so many generous volunteers and donors on young people, and just working everyday around students showing such fortitude in the face of truly difficult circumstances has been life changing for Lily. She shares some of her thoughts below.
“Working with young people is so inspiring and energizing. I love that my work challenges me to create, think quick, and problem solve, and that each day is different. I also love working for an organization that creates environments and experiences for kids to just be kids. Due to the trauma and challenges that children experiencing homelessness face, their living situation often asks of them to act more like adults, causing their childhood to be accelerated in some ways but then unlived in other ways. For me, this work has taught me the importance of consistency and stability, and how easily it is taken for granted by people who have it.”
About the School Supply Campaign
“One of the highlights of our campaign regarding our donors and volunteers is how many people got their children involved in supporting this effort. All in all, around 25 kids assisted with filling backpacks at donor and volunteer backpack stuffing events. When kids learn about the work we are doing and the effects of being homeless as a child, it is so powerful to see their willingness and enthusiasm to help out. After all, some of the kids we serve could very well be their peers, and we feel that is really impactful for kids to realize this.
Since the need was much higher than we anticipated this year, I was initially concerned about being able to fulfill all the requests we had. But we did it, and we certainly have many people to thank for that. Through amazing individuals and groups coming together to lend their support, we were able to make sure that every request we had was met, ultimately serving more than 1,100 children experiencing homelessness this season. It feels really good knowing that we didn’t have to turn anyone away. Delivering the resources was a great opportunity to connect with our partners. I was so happy to hear from them how helpful all these resources are for the families and children they serve. I even had the opportunity to deliver directly to one of the families whose children were in our Summer 360° program. Since we don’t typically meet the families we provide resources to, I appreciated being able to connect personally with the grandmother who shared some of what her family’s experienced with me. As she discussed how important education was to her family, I admired her determination and selflessness in ensuring that her grandchildren could continue to go to school in spite of their living situation being in flux.
For the recipients of these resources, this effort is a huge help. Back-to-school season involves so many expenses, none of which can really be cut out. With extra support for uniforms, transportation, and school supplies, parents are able to meet the requirements for their kids’ schools. And ultimately, this ensures that the children we serve do not have to miss out on (or be singled out during) those critical first days of school because they didn’t have what they needed.”
A Cincinnati Teacher’s Simple Joy
A positive teacher who brings out the best in her students is an incredible gift to a growing mind. My Walnut Hills High School intern, Isabella Noe, spoke with Dawn Wolfe. I think you will be moved by this teacher’s inspirational story of how her job brings her joy.
In her own words, from Dawn Wolfe, an English teacher at Walnut Hills High School (a Cincinnati Public School)
“There is a simple joy of seeing a student in the morning and saying, ‘Hello.’ No matter what that student has done, what they had been through that morning and the night before, they still come into school, and they are ready to say ‘hello’ and they are ready to work. Even when I give them an essay. And they still smile, and they are still thankful.
Actually I really love when I hand students an essay and they say ‘thank you.’ And that amuses me to no end, every time, because they are grateful for their learning, and they are thankful for the opportunities they are being given.
The opportunities that I have had at Walnut are different because of the diversity of students here, and the variety of students- not just socio-economic, not just gender, but the level of grades that we have (7-12). [I enjoy] being able to work with kids when they are very small and scared and new to Walnut…And then when I see them as seniors, and I got to watch them grow and work with them at various points. I think that is the most amazing opportunity that I have had here.
And then, when they come back and give me hugs after they’ve gone to college; That’s so cool!
One thing I love about teaching is that there is no repetition, even between bells. I teach the same thing every day, 5 bells a day…every day. But the comments and opinions of students make it interesting, and each year you get to start with a brand new group of students, a completely clean slate, and reflect on what you’ve done in previous years, and you get to do so much more.
You get to make changes to make things better for the students. Especially with this new human rights course, I hope I can impart the message that we cannot be passive and let things slip by. Let’s be upstanders, and make a change in what you want to in the world.
I decided to be an English major because I was the kid who read 5 books at a time when I was little. But, I was going to go to law school. I wasn’t going to be a teacher. But I was so proud of what I saw in students and I wanted to be part of that, and wanted to have fun every day when I went to work; I do have fun every day when I come to work.”
– Dawn Wolfe
Jessica Kavinsky Wants To Change The World
My Walnut Hills High School intern, Isabella Noe, spoke with a young world changer. Below please see what Isabella learned of Jessica, her Modern Abolitionist Movement Club, and what Jessica wants to do to make change happen.
photo credit: Isabella Noe
“When I tell people I don’t drink Starbucks, don’t buy Nike and don’t eat Hershey’s, they have no idea why. These are a few of many large corporations that abuse fair trade laws and perpetuate modern slavery. There are more slaves today than any time in human history… My freshman year, my sister started the Modern Abolitionist Movement club (MAM) at my school. It was mostly seniors, and the next year they had all graduated. The club dissolved. But, I realized, over the summer, that this was important. The more and more I saw about it, and the more and more I heard, human trafficking was something I wanted to fight against, and I wanted to start up something at my school, so I brought back MAM. Since then, I have realized human trafficking is not an isolated issue, it is a systematic issue. The reason sex trafficking is ignored in the United States and in third world countries is that we have a systematic abuse of women in today’s society. I want to go into business to work out corporate sexism, because at the moment, there are more men named John in the workforce that are CEOs than there are women. I want to show the world that this is who we are, this is what women around the world look like, and this is what they face on a day to day basis. I want to bring value to women because there are women out there being treated as animals.
I’ve noticed, through MAM, that there are many other people like me who care just as much about it, and that at our age, we are still vital to the fight because we have this youth outlook on the issue. There are adults who do not have as much passion as we do about this issue, which makes me know that this is what I’m meant to do. No, I don’t want to change the world a little. I want to change the world a lot. Long term, not short term, to change the system- not the people. I won’t see the results right away because there are people in charge who don’t see the new ways, who don’t know what equality looks like. So no, I don’t want to change one person, I want to change the system.”
-Jessica Kavinsky,
student at Walnut Hill High School
Isabella Noe Is New Intern
Among the gifts this blog has given me has been the opportunity to get to know, inspire and explore with young minds who want to grow. I have loved seeing the ways in which they have grown from the experience.
One of the greatest compliments came several weeks back when Isabella Noe, a senior at Walnut Hills High School, reached out to me at the suggestion of my former intern Andrea Francisco. They are working together this summer and Andrea recommended Isabella get in touch with me. I am so very proud of Andrea and her personal growth, and I am so grateful to have been part of her journey.
It is with great pleasure that I introduce to you my newest high school intern…Isabella.
Isabella has a great interest in photography and theatre. When she isn’t out photographing the world, she inhabits the Walnut Theatre Department, acting, directing, stage managing, set designing, and set building. She is an omnivore but thoroughly enjoys spending time in the kitchen making vegan snacks. Most nights she can be found working at a local healthy cafe or at the gym.
These are Isabella’s own words…
I started with a film photography my sophomore year of high school and my love for it has continued throughout the years. I love both film and digital manipulation and spend quite a bit of time in the dark room at my school. I intend on continuing my photography journey throughout my life. Long term, I want to go to school for directing. I hope to pursue acting and directing as a career because I have never seen another future for myself since playing God in my first grade Christmas play.
Someone who really inspired me while he was alive was my grandfather. He found value in every single human being he interacted with. This belief has shaped who I am as a person and made me want to pursue that goal of seeing value. I love and miss him dearly but I remember him every time I follow my dreams, as he always supported me in everything I did.
My goal each day is to make one person’s day just a little bright, and I hope my articles for Good Things Going Around do just that!
