Cars, Clippers, and Literacy Kits!

LA Clippers score point with career panels

In an ongoing partnership with the LA Clippers, Think Together high school students were invited by the Clippers to attend a “Women in Sports” panel featuring female employees of the LA Clippers for Woman’s History Month. At the event, students heard about the different roles and educational backgrounds of the employees, with an opportunity to ask questions during a Q&A. To end the night on a high note, the students also attended the LA Clippers game as they took on the Toronto Raptors at the Crypto Center.

Think Together student Destiny from our San Gabriel Valley Region enjoyed the panel and shared her takeaways. “Honestly, all of them [the panelists] were my favorite, because they all said something about women, in general, being the best, and their careers just inspired us a lot.”

Previously, Think Together students also attended a panel hosted by the LA Clippers and the Coalition of Black Male Physicians for Black History Month. Students were able to learn more about the field of medicine and hear from physicians and the importance of Black representation in the medical field.

Pacific Life helping promote literacy

Think Together is always excited to help students approach important subjects, like literacy, in new and engaging ways. Thanks to volunteers who attended Pacific Life’s Underwriter Symposium in late February, 400 literacy kits were assembled and have been distributed to Think Together students in Compton and beyond.  

With the kits, students learned and practiced their literacy skills, and each box was packaged with a personalized note from the volunteers who assembled them. These messages of encouragement ranged, from “I am so proud of you,” to “never give up on your dreams,” and “reading is power.”

The literacy kits consist of game supplies including flashcards, playing cards and fly swatters that are used to race their opponents in finding and tapping on the site word announced by their program leader.

Mid-game, Dagoberto shared “It’s really fun, you get to hit the words. Then, those who have the most, win.”

Think Together in the Fast Lane

In late February, students from Colton Joint Unified School District got to attend the Speediatrics Fun Day Festival, hosted by the NASCAR Foundation at Fontana’s Auto Club Speedway. Think Together students participated in a full week of healthy living lessons during their afterschool program, and the official Auto Club Speedway pace car visited the school sites as part of it.  

Students got an in-depth lesson on the different features of the pace car, and how it varies from their parent’s cars, in addition to the role a pace car plays during a race. Then at the speedway, students participated in pit-crew-inspired games and had the opportunity to meet NASCAR racer, Parker Kligerman.

Celleste, a Think Together program leader, shared how this experience impacted her students.

“The NASCAR field trip was an impactful experience that both the students and staff enjoyed being a part of. Not only was the field trip great but so were the lesson plans that we were able to teach to our students. The PowerPoints were interactive, interesting, and fun which made it easy for the students to learn.

These lesson plans got the students extremely excited to go to the speedway. The day of the field trip went fantastic as the students participated with tons of excitement and enthusiasm at each activity. Overall, the field trip was a great experience for everyone involved and I would love to be a part of something like this again!”