Mark Your Calendars

It may be the off-season but SCORES staff are busy planning great events and readying for spring! Please mark your calendars for upcoming annual events and click on links for more information.

Inspired Art 2012 poet-athletes

   
     National Poetry SLAM! Auditions        
     January 31, 2013, 3:30-5:00PM
     hosted by Starbucks Coffee Company, REI

     National Poetry SLAM! and activities  
     April 6-8, 2013
     New York City

Brandon Blew & James Mejia
Colfax Marathon 2012

     Inspired Art
     April 11, 2013, 5:30-8:00PM
     Artwork Network, Santa Fe Art District

     Colfax Marathon
     May 19, 2013
     beginning and ending in City Park

     SCORES Cup
     August 3, 2013 (to be confirmed)
     Dick's Sporting Goods Park




We're always looking for volunteers and SCORES supporters to make our events successful! Can you help prepare poets for a trip of a lifetime this spring? Are you an artist or collector who might contribute to Inspired Art? Are you a runner who can participate in the Colfax Marathon as a member of the SCORES team? Would your coworkers like to play against other companies and organizations in our annual soccer tournament?

Contact us at 303.832.5879 to answer any questions not found online! We look forward to seeing you at our 2013 events.

Happy New Year!

We welcome winter and hope you all enjoyed the holidays!

SCORES Denver's fall season ended with our 13th Annual Poetry SLAM! held at Abraham Lincoln High School in November.  We're always amazed by the variety of poetry and the talents of so many young poet-athletes.  Congratulations to all who performed their original works in front of teammates and community members!

Please visit our Picasa album to see all the great photos of teams and their performances, as well as the volunteers who helped make the night special.  A special thanks to Starbucks Coffee Company employees and  to the University of Denver students who worked that evening!

We also wish to express our thanks to our special guest from Minor Disturbance Youth Slam Poetry, Leah Scott, who attended our event in the middle of DU's finals week!  She wowed the crowd with several performances and we can't wait to see her again.

Our own poet-athletes wrote over 1,400 pieces this season.  Some are funny, some sad and inspirational; many are based on formats learned in over 30 hours of writing workshops this fall.

SCORES staff members have collected the poems and are busily posting some of our favorites for all to read on our Inspired Art Poetry page.  If you are, or know an artist who might like to be involved in our fourth annual Inspired Art event we welcome you to visit the Artists' Corner page for more information and to fill out a contract, letting us know which poem inspired you.  All submitted and accepted creations will be featured for auction at Artwork Network on April 11, 2013.

Other exciting happenings in this off-season will include preparations for National Poetry SLAM! in New York City and some organized soccer play time at SCORES schools for neighborhood children.  Check back for more information and stay on top of the latest news by "liking" us on Facebook.

Fun Fall Season for SCORES

Poet-athletes are learning alliteration like used above, and many other poetic devices, as well as honing their soccer skills and having fun this fall!

game time!

We're already mid-way through the season and have much to celebrate.  There is some wonderful writing happening in each site during workshops and one may witness positive sportsmanship at weekly match-ups between the schools.

face painting at Fall Frenzy

The season began with Fall Frenzy on September 15th.  We're very thankful for Regis University's Women's Soccer and their coach, J.B. Belzer.  Regis hosted SCORES for the 8th year!  The weather was wonderful and there's nothing better than a Saturday of soccer to start the season.

A continued partnership with University of Denver professor, Liz Drogin has provided volunteers from a first year seminar to work regularly in three SCORES schools.  This has been fun for students on both sides!

Several poet-athletes had the opportunity to perform early this season at an event for Social Venture Partners during which Cowell and Eagleton students learned from professional spoken word artists and shared brand new poems with the crowd.

On September 29th Denver joined nine other SCORES cities in attempting to break the Guinness World Record for most people dribbling a soccer ball at one time.  Several Cowell coaches and students joined in that fun too!

All teams are preparing for the upcoming 13th Annual Poetry Slam to be held again this year at Abraham Lincoln High School in Denver.  Please join us Wednesday, November 14 at 5:30pm and witness the poet-athletes' last hurrah of the fall season.

Back-to-School Time for Denver Students

Brandon Blew among the riders with
Superintendent Boasberg  and Mayor Hancock  Monday

All SCORES sites join other Denver Public Schools in returning to class this week.  We're really excited about our 13th year in Denver and ready for a great fall season!

How can you help us succeed?  Donate time on a Friday game day to referee, drop off some school supplies at our office to share with coaches, write us a check of any amount to put toward program costs, support us in classrooms and playgrounds any afternoon you want to see smiles of our great kids...

There are many ways to get involved with America SCORES Denver.  We look forward to having your help!  Welcome back, everyone.

It's Summertime for SCORES

The spring season was full of reasons for celebration.  SCORES values of Commitment, Leadership and Teamwork were evident in daily sessions, game days and service projects!

Projects on display

Teams gave back to their communities in many ways including planting new trees on school grounds, raising money for The Children's Hospital, MADD and local animal shelters, cleaning up yards of neighbors and community gardens, reading to early childhood classes, picking up litter and recycling education, and holding assemblies on topics ranging from bullying prevention to getting rid of graffiti.  SCORES' service learning had a broad reach and significant impact this season.

Our partnership with University of Denver students was fun and schools enjoyed having DU students join their after school sessions and activities.  After hosting DU students in many schools it was wonderful to be able to spend time on their campus-- Jamboree! was hosted by University of Denver the evening of May 18th.  SCORES participants played games on the practice fields after meeting members of the DU men's soccer team, and many DU students volunteered by handing out snacks, books, and face-painting.  Thanks to DU for helping us celebrate our season!

As always we wish to thank our coaches and liaisons for jobs well-done and working toward shared goals to create positive opportunities for extending learning during out-of school-time.  Every day teachers and community members who work for America SCORES Denver help inspire youth to lead healthy lives, be engaged students, and have the confidence and character to make a difference in the world.

Have a great summer, everyone!  We look forward to seeing you all in August.

Heading to the White House for Let's Move Soccer Clinic with First Lady

This morning six America SCORES Denver students left D.I.A. for the opportunity of a lifetime.

Tuesday, May 15 they will travel to The White House to participate in the Let's Move Soccer Clinic with First Lady Michelle Obama and the Major League Soccer Champion L.A. Galaxy.

"These six students, representing three Denver Public Schools elementary schools, have demonstrated extraordinary teamwork and leadership skills and an incredible commitment to the SCORES program this year, and are excellent representatives for our organization. The invite to the White House is a life altering opportunity for these poet-athletes, and is one that they will remember the rest of their lives," said Brandon Blew, Executive Director of America SCORES Denver.

Students were selected from Gust Elementary, Newlon Elementary, and Eagleton Elementary. Funding for this once in a lifetime opportunity for DPS students was made possible by generous community donations to America SCORES and the DPS Foundation.  "We are honored that the White House recognizes the importance of what we do to address childhood obesity. Our hope is that we will continue to see even more support locally," added Blew.

We are so excited to receive more pictures from their day and will make sure to post about their White House visit!

What's Happening in Denver?

It's been almost a month since our supporters joined us at Inspired Art to eat, drink and enjoy our students' poetry and buy the art inspired by it!  Where have we been?  What are we doing?

Aaron & Regina in NYC

So many great things are happening we haven't had time to report them all!

Two poet-athletes were accompanied by a Denver chaperone and our own Executive Director to New York City April 14 - 17 for a trip of a lifetime and special performances at the historic Apollo Theater for America SCORES National Poetry Slam!  Aaron from Eagleton Elementary performed his original poem "Demon Cats" and Regina from Barnum Elementary performed "The Beautiful Game".  We're proud of both our poet-athletes for representing Denver!

Newlon boys write about
 their community

Ten schools' teams are busily managing service-learning projects led by the poet-athletes.  Drop by a writing workshop these days and you're likely to hear how long it takes a plastic bottle or an apple core to decompose, how much the City of Denver spends per year on graffiti removal, what kinds of trees or plants need what kind of soil and light to thrive, how many stray animals are picked up and what we can do to help, or even learn some tips about bully prevention.  It's pretty great what a team of motivated participants can make happen in their own communities when they learn and work together!

Cowell at Cheltenham

Our last home and away games were played this week, with players displaying the skills they've acquired through the season, as well as great sportsmanship.  Everyone is looking forward to next Friday's Jamboree! at the University of Denver.

D.U. students introduce
themselves at a visit to Knapp

We're excited to be partnering with D.U. this season.  Students from three sections of a writing course have observed SCORES sessions, volunteered at events and surveyed our parents and coaches as part of their studies this semester.  These students will be featured authors of blog posts, Facebook updates and SCOOP articles as we wrap up our spring season.  Keep watching!