Student Impact of Westfield

This week, we had the joy of celebrating two rounds of Friendsgiving with over 150 students and six of our dedicated afterschool volunteers! We're incredibly grateful for the meaningful opportunities our youth have each week to connect with one another and strengthen their community. Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Week one ? As we dive into the new school year, we’re thrilled to launch another chapter of growth and opportunity for our youth. We’re ready to support and inspire youth, helping them build meaningful connections and thrive in their community. Here’s to a year filled with discovery, achievement, and community impact! #YouthDevelopment #Community #BackToSchool

A beautiful, bright morning workshopping through mission, vision & core value planning with Hedges! We can’t wait to roll these out and use them as tools to connect our community with the common thread that’s been at the heartbeat of our organization since 1999. Stay tuned ??

Staying busy during summertime ?? Today we hosted an Indiana Youth Institute Worker Cafe focused on DEIB (diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging)! Youth Worker Cafes are localized professional education trainings and spaces to create connections that address needs relevant to what youth workers are facing in our field and our community. While our time with students is decreased due to summer break, we’re exploring new opportunities and trainings that will increase our effectiveness and connections with our youth. Today was extra special as we utilized The Rock to bring together a community of youth worker professionals and heard from Jeremy Warriner. Jeremy’s story and unique perspective encourages and paints a clear picture on how you can advocate for and equip the world around you to be accessible spaces for people with disabilities. Notes from today ?? ?? Diversity is a fact. ?? Equity is a choice. ?? Inclusion is an action. ?? Belonging is an outcome. RESOURCES (short list compared to all we learned today, contact Jeremy at Walking Spirit for more information): ?? Walking Spirit - Accessible DEIB Consulting & Support; Inspirational Speaking; Quality of Life Adaptability & Advocacy coaching; ADA training contact @walkingspirit_llc ?? accessABILITY, Center for Independent Living, Inc - focused on advocating on behalf of people with disabilities (of all ages) to exercise their rights to establish and maintain control over their lives. @accessabilitiesinc (PARENTS & GUARDIANS CHECK THEM OUT) ?? Great Lakes ADA Center - focused on increasing awareness and knowledge surrounding ADA compliance, specifically striving to increase voluntary compliance related to the Americans with Disability Act. Have questions personally or professionally? (800) 949-4232 Side note: kudos to our friends Chad Huff & Curt Whitesell for the custom tables a few years back. It takes a special sauce of flexibility and strength to transform this front space from eating room for 30 youth to hosting professional trainings for 40!

We ended this school year with a SPLASH!!! ???? To celebrate the last week of Student Impact and the end of the school year coming up, we had a week full of Water Wars, eating contests, and relay races. Can’t wait to hangout with all of our friends at Camp Impact!!! If you haven’t registered your 5th-8th grader, you’ve still got time. Go to therockwestfield.org to see all the fun! ??

HUGE thank you to our spring shirt sponsors, CSI Signs & WKRP Indy Real Estate Professionals. Their commitment to our youth gets fun swag in the hands of all our kiddos & community! Need a fit… swing by! P.S. if you’re not following us on instagram or Facebook you’re really missing out! ?? https://lnkd.in/gK7k8deJ

What better way to share our mission with the community, than sharing with those selling Westfield?! Join us May 7th 10:00-12:00 for a networking event with other agents, refreshments from The Bountiful Board & ONEHOPE Wine mimosas!

We had the delightful opportunity to hang out with some of Westfields finest this morning with Westfield Police Department - Indiana. Chief Keen & Lt. Adams threw down a hefty breakfast before we hustled off to school this morning… 4lbs of ?? 3 dozen ?? 75+ hot fresh ?? 30 kiddos starting their day with community ?? Have the best Wednesday!

We have ??open house events coming up! Sunday, April 28th from 2:00 - 4:00 we're inviting all of Westfield to join us at The Rock for an inside glimpse into our organization! Tour the building, meet staff & student leaders and get engaged! This is a great time for incoming 5th graders to break the ice and start to envision what their time at S.I. will look like. Tuesday, May 7th from 10:00 - 12:00 we're inviting all Real Estate Professionals to join us for a networking event with our Community First Bank of Indiana friends. RSVP by texting "NETWORK" to 317-659-7180 or follow the link in comments!

The Union: Spring Dance ? Our goal: create an environment where students feel safe, loved and their needs met… all while having fun and building out their community of friends and mentors. How it went: we rocked the house! Nearly 100 kiddos packed The Rock, almost 20 of which were BRAND NEW to S.I., we ate an insane amount of pizza from Greeks Westfield, danced and sang our hearts out and made memories that looked like this conversation with a student… Them: “I almost cried.” Me: “Oh no, why?” Them: “Because I’ve never felt so loved.” THIS IS WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO. Relationships like this change lives, they provide hope and healing in our youth. And they positively impact the wellness of a community. Next Union May 17th and we’re looking for a sponsor. Come partner with us! ??: [email protected]