National Poetry SLAM

Last weekend, two poet-athletes from Markham School in Portland performed at the National Poetry SLAM! at the Apollo Theatre in NYC. We are so proud to offer these students the opportunity to have their creativity celebrated on a national stage.  woo hoo!

Dallas Anderson is a 5th grader known as "the epitome of team spirit!" She is very hard-working, loves to play soccer and sing and likes to incorporate jokes into her poems. 

Ernesto Andreas Lopez is a 4th grader who shows great sportsmanship and a good attitude. He loves poetry "because it ROCKS!"

Both students participated in America SCORES this fall, a national program that combines soccer and literacy into an after school curriculum for 3rd-5th graders.

We are so excited as this is Portland’s first year participating in the National Poetry SLAM!  Dallas and Andres joined 28 other students from 14 America SCORES cities across the country and had the time of their lives. This year’s host was National Soccer Hall of Fame member, John Harkes and the Guest of Honor was New York Red Bulls President of Operations, Chris Heck. Dallas and Andres also met famous soccer players from the New York Red Bulls,  shared the stage with smart-rapper - Psalm One, enjoyed a day at Central Park and gained the confidence and pride to perform in front of a packed house at the Apollo.

The Poetry of

Dallas:

In the day,
During the night,
All the creatures come out to bite.
With sharp pointy teeth, and
Large round claws
They’re at the reef,
And out at the malls.

There the Loch Ness Monster, Fred,
And the one that hides under your bed,
There’s the cookie monster
But he’s not that scary –
He’s just really hairy!

And he’s blue, but not that mean.
Although if you mention veggies,
He’ll scream!


Andres:

Today my name is sleepy
I feel so creepy
I pretend that I am freaky

Yesterday my name was curious
I heard that I was furious
I found a little anger

Tomorrow my name will be "A"
I'll forget all the hay
But I'll remember my raise!

Spring Training

Most of the time when you hear the words, 'Spring Training' they are reserved for baseball, but not this time!  AC Portland held its first ever 'Spring Training' last Friday at the adidas Village.  We trained 25 coaches, helping to prepare them for our spring programming!  We will have 400 students at 8 elementary schools participating in America SCORES and US Soccer Foundation's Soccer for Success Program. 

The training event was a huge success! The morning got off to a great start with Christa Thoeresz, from the Portland Timbers, as our keynote speaker.  Christa shared several stories about how sport can make a difference. Maureen Quinn and Stacey Sowders from OSU Extension Services helped lead the morning sessions, which covered mentoring and behavior management.  The afternoon session had Zola Short from the US Soccer Foundation work with the Soccer for Success coaches, while AC Portland staff went over the America SCORES curriculum and led a soccer workshop on the adidas field!

If you are interested in volunteering at one of the schools once a week, please contact Ben@acportland.org

National Poetry SLAM

AC Portland is sending two students to the America SCORES National Poetry SLAM in less than a month!  The students who won the trip participated in the fall season of America SCORES at Markham Elementary School, one of the AC Portland sites.  Over the next few weeks we will be sharing more of their stories online, so be sure to check back to see updates about their preparation for the trip and hear details about the event!  Neither student has ever traveled to NYC before and are both overly excited!  

FACEBOOK AUCTION

Facebook Auction benefiting AC Portland. 2012 Timbers autographed poster plus adidas Timbers scarf. Bidding starts at $50 and auction ends Friday 3/30/12 at noon pst.  Good luck!

 

Year End Giving!

Coffee with Kenny Cooper!

To show their support for AC Portland, Caffe Umbria developed and is now selling the AC Portland "Kick-Start" blend with $1 of all sales benefiting AC Portland programming. This morning, December 12, 2011, AC Portland was joined at Caffe Umbria by Portland Timbers Striker Kenny Cooper, supporters, and fans. all coming together to celebrate a great first AC Portland season! Kenny mingled with fans and autographed dozens of posters and player cards as supporters and passersby sampled the Kick-Start blend (as well as some delicious sandwiches!) and learned more about AC Portland's mission. Thanks to Caffe Umbria for hosting this event, it was a great way to celebrate the fall season and build even more momentum for the spring!

You can purchase a bag of Kick-Start here:

http://www.caffeumbria.com/product/cu017.html

AC Portland Fall Events Recap

AC Portland has been busy this fall season! We began both America SCORES and Soccer for Success programming at seven local elementary schools and just Soccer for Success programming at another two. The America SCORES season was kicked off with a Fall Frenzy event that brought kids together from all over the city to participate in a two day friendly tournament. Highlights included a guest appearance by Portland Timbers player Kenny Cooper who can be seen below taking shots on kids in goal!

November was a great month for AC Portland! On November 15th the dedication ceremony for the new micro field at James John Elementary was held. formally  AC Portland collaborated with numerous organizations including Depave, Timbers Army, 107ist, Luis Palau, Season of Service, Southlake Church, Convergence Architecture and others to make this project happen and we are excited to see the field's completion! Many people were on hand to share in the celebration including Timbers owner, Merrett Paulson and Adidas America President, Patrick Nilsson. Timber Joey also made an appearance and sawed through a log to signify the beginning of play.

We finished off the month of November big, with the 1st annual America SCORES Poetry Slam held on November 17th! Program participants spent their fall season learning about and creating their own poetry in addition to their time spent out on the field and this event gave them a chance to show what they'd accomplished! Seven schools showed up at Benson Polytechnic High School to perform and compete in a friendly battle for a variety of different awards. Guest MC Renee Mitchell was joined onstage by several local guest poets including one poet who wrote a special piece about the America SCORES kids as they were performing on stage! 

* Check out the link to our Picassa site for more event photos!