Mrs. Ikea Simmons

Today we met Mrs. Ikea Simmons, Ivonte's special guest. Mrs. Ikea is Ivonte's mom. She is a travelling nurse and works for a company called Home Instead. Mrs. Ikea's job enables her to help people and travel all around the country at the same time! She has a huge heart for those in need! One thing she told us to remember is, "hard work pays off!". Mrs. Ikea, we are so glad you were able to join us today! Thank you for coming and sharing your heart's story with the class.

Cindy Sudowski, Jaida's Special Guest

On November 11th we met Mrs. Cindy Sudowski. She is Jaida's Nana. Mrs. Sudowski works from home as a graphic designer. She is very creative and talented! You can see her work in many local newspapers and magazines like South Carolina Women, Transitions and Parent magazine. Mrs. Cindy is married and has 3 children and 5 grandchildren. They are all very precious to her! One thing is for sure, Mrs. Sudowski is very special to Jaida! We enjoyed her interview very much.

G.A.P. Creative Collaboration Grant for Artists and Non Profits

Hearts' Stories has been awarded a $1,000 grant by a local Non Profit called The Global Awareness Project. Their goal for the grant is to offer a creative representation of our program and exhibit the artist's (photographer's) talent as well as the students' incredible work! The grant will enable a local photographer named Paula Player to capture and document our Hearts' Stories program in three Forestbrook Elementary School classrooms. Although Hearts' Stories has caught on district wide and is in several classrooms across the state, the photograpic documentary will focus on Mrs. Edwards, Mrs. Costner's and Mrs. Pon's second grade classrooms. I look forward to sharing the first pictures very soon!

This picture is from The Global Awareness Project's Annual Art Show where the award was presented to our Non Profit, Hearts' Stories: A Vision for Change.

Dash's Special Guest, Mr. Mark Stevanovich

Today we met Dash's special guest Mr. Mark Stevanovich. Mr. Mark is Dash's dad! Mr. Mark used to work creating voice overs for radio commericals and TV ads. He is so talented and we loved hearing all of his different voices! It was especially impressive because his first language is German, not English! Mr. Mark eventually changed careers and began working with the Naval Information systems and Diaster Recovery. He uses the Lifeskill of problem solving everyday in his job! To learn more about his family, hobbies, and more interesting facts, you'll have to read his story that the children wrote! We sincerely enjoyed learning about Mr. Mark Stevanovich!