Teacher Intern Has A Breakthrough Moment in Bowdoin Library

In the picture:
Tori-Ann Holness, BT Scholar, Zoe Eiber, Program Assistant/Teacher Intern

Hey! So I'm in the library busily working on one of my many final papers. This one is for my poetry class and our assigment was to chose a poet that we read this semester and read a bunch of their work and pick a common theme out of that. We're supposed to find critical sources, bibliographic and other things to support our theme and then write one piece about all of that. Anyways, I wrote my first paper on this poem "The Tropics of New York" by Claude McKay and thought he was GREAT (you should look up the poem--its really great), but I couldn't write about him again, so I decided to do another Harlem Renaissance poet--Langston Hughes. I've spent all day reading about him and critical essays on his poetry when I finally, just now, got to my interpretations of his poems. I decided to focus on three of them and couldn't figure out why some of them looked SO FAMILIAR, especially since we didn't talk about them in class...when I realized I TAUGHT THEM AT BREAKTHROUGH! Good to know that college kids & breakthrough students study the same things!

Sincerely,
Zoe Eiber
Bowdoin College

PIANO SLAM: VOLUME 2

“Life Inside A Song”

Have you ever been trapped inside something so big,
You thought it could never be true,

That life was playing a trick on you?
Well that’s what music can do,

Can take away the saddest moments,
That way happiness can stay,

Hip hop will make you want to move,
But gospel really touches you,

Classical may put you to sleep,
Jazz will help you find the beat,

The beat that takes you where you want to go,
But that’s just life inside a song.

By Alexus Wilson

What do you get when you mix classical tunes, with urban beats, and reflections of music’s meaning from students across Miami Dade County? Piano Slam: Volume 2 presented by The Dranoff International Two Piano Foundation. It began as a Super Saturday English lesson at Breakthrough Miami. Students were asked to creatively express the role that music plays in their lives while listening to the melodic tunes of William Bolcom, 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. Some students wrote poems while others created artwork to illustrate their feelings toward the music. Each poem was entered into the Piano Slam poetry contest along with the poems of 15 other middle and high schools in Miami. Out of over 2000 entries, Breakthrough Miami student, Alexus Wilson was chosen as one of 16 finalist. Alexus received a phone call from Piano Slam producer ,Deborah Magdalena, revealing the great news. In addition to being awarded one hundred dollars Alexus would perform her poem in front of an audience of over a thousand at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. Alexus had an opportunity to attend two spoken word workshops with performing artist Lela Lombardo and Summer Hill Seven prior to the May 12th event. While Susan and Sarah Wang, Dranoff International Two Piano Competition Silver Medal Winner played Bolcom’s “Recuredos” Alexus made her poem come alive, her words danced around the James L. Knight Concert Hall, echoing sentiments of “Life Inside a Song.” The Wilson Family, Friends, and Breakthrough Miami Staff are very proud of Alexus’s accomplishments and look forward to Piano Slam: Volume 3. http://dranoff2piano.org/outreach.htm.

Ariel Edwards
Associate Site Director

Breakthrough Scholars Meet Three Local Leaders; Magic Johnson, Alonzo Mourning, and Kendrick Meek

Photo Caption:
Deja Schuler, BT Scholar, Dwight Spencer, BT Scholar, Alonzo Mourning, Ajoni Booth, BT Scholar, Jeremy Smith, BT Scholar and Teacher-Intern, Terrence Claster, BT Scholar

Breakthrough Miami students attended an event at the home of Breakthrough Miami's Chairman of the Board, Jeffrey Miller. Congressman Kendrick Meek, Magic Johnson, and Alonzo Mourning were several local leaders in attendance. Breakthrough Miami Scholars spent the afternoon honing their social skills by demonstrating their ability to formally introduce themselves to adults, appropriate presentation through event attire, and proper decorum at social events. Breakthrough Miami prides itself in providing students with unique experiences that are both teachable and memorable.

Webber J. Charles
Associate Site Director

Leave a Legacy 2010: The Donor Next Door

Honoring Jeffery Miller's commitment to Miami-Dade Students

Jeffrey Miller is the chairman of the Board of Directors for Breakthrough Miami. His leadership on the board has enabled Breakthrough Miami to become the largest program in the Breakthrough Collaborative. He is a tireless advocate for education and he especially helps the youth of Miami-Dade County BREAKTHROUGH any obstacles in their way to success. Breakthrough Miami would not be where it is without Jeffrey Miller and the Miller Family Foundation.

Besides his work at Breakthrough Miami, Jeffrey Miller works with many other philanthropic organizations. He is the current Chairman of The Council for Educational Change, another local non-profit organization which works to improve Miami-Dade county public schools. He received an award from the Council for his work with Hialeah Elementary and Holmes Elementary schools. He also received the Miami-Dade County Public Schools Exemplary Partnership Award-Business Leader award.

The Miller Family is one of the most philanthropic families in South Florida. Jeffrey's father, Leonard Miller was the CEO of the Lennar Corporation. In 2004, Mr. Miller gave the largest gift in Florida's history to the University of Miami, School of Medicine. He also was a founder of the Council for Educational Change. Leonard Miller believed: "If Every Child Can Get a Quality Education, Every Child Can Succeed." These are the exact sentiments of Jeffrey and are evident by his determined efforts on behalf of children.

Jeffrey's selfless committment to bettering the lives of children gives us strength to continue our mission. Executive Director Alicia Rodriguez-Bower notes, "We are proud to honor Jeffrey Miller for his dedication to Breakthrough Miami's students, parents, teachers and staff. He has inspired all of us to give more of our energy and hearts to our mission of helping children fulfill their dreams."

Joanne Messing
Development Director