The Nationally Competitive Experience: Nashville 2015

The Nationally Competitive Experience: Nashville 2015

From Ana Cunningham

Our super awesome goal is to raise money to provide our students with an enriching and excellent life experience! Please support our students as they pursue their ambitions to create a prosperous bright future.

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Update #6

about 9 years ago

Y'all, words will never quite encapsulate the euphoric feeling I have in how far we have come in bridging an opportunity gap for ten super sensational students. I want to extend my most sincere and heartfelt gratitude for all the incredibly gracious donations of our super duper awesome supporters-- we have surpassed 86% of our total fundraising amount!

Our students do not regard education as merely a means to an eventual end in the future. Our students feel strongly that their education will unlock doors that have barred their family members from previous opportunities. With our students, they do not consider their teachers as basic adults in a room. Instead, they consider our teaching as the meaningful tools to engage productively in society. The high academic caliber wielded by each students reveals how they want to use their personal gifts to enrich our world and y'all's effort to send Lauren, Courtney G, Geena, Jessica, Nalexus, Tom, Sorali, Courtney S, Diana and Victor, our ever consistent nationally competitive students, exemplifies that their choice for excellence will forever trump status.

Your profound belief in our students' capacity to shatter stereotypes and propel themselves forward solidifies their inherent value in the world. Thank you to all of our most generous supporters and everyone who has shared our page either on Facebook or with people in person--we are profoundly grateful :)

We have two days left for Lauren, Courtney G, Geena, Jessica, Nalexus, Tom, Sorali, Courtney S, Diana and Victor, our super awesome nationally competitive students, to engage in a meaningful college session at KIPP Nashville and experience Vanderbilt University. Please help us enable that all students discuss pertinent education issues with school leaders and experience the joys of college dining hall food--educational equity begins with a broadened societal perspective that they can absolutely gain from the Nationally Competitive Experience: Nashville 2015.

Please support our students in their pursuit to experience their first Broadway play, taste their first s'more, and enjoy awesome Italian food at Bucca di Beppo and wonderful southern comfort food. Help our students feel that their personal experiences can change outcomes and that the pursuit of excellence manifests in a beyond prosperous future :)

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In Charlotte, North Carolina, the banks abound, the barbecue sizzles and the Nascar races can whiz past on the national track, but the Uptown Charlotte opulence fails to reach each corridor of the Queen City. Students who reside on the East and West sides of Charlotte have severe constraints on how they may access the opportunities present in the skyscrapers that tower in Center City. Too many students lack fundamental resources to capitalize on their high school experience—a lack of consistent internet access, too few test preparation programs, and insufficient resources dedicated to college preparation programs hinder our students’ access to higher education. Significant challenges exist that de facto bar our students from pursuing opportunities outside the confines of their stratified neighborhood, but our students possess exceptional grit and prove that status need not dictate choice.

In specific, our students have shattered stereotypes and dispelled myths that ‘kids on the West side’ undervalue education—our eleventh-grade students exceeded expectations on the North Carolina English II End-of-Course (EOC) test on which greater than 80% of students earned a proficiency status of college and career ready as determined by the state of North Carolina. Our students succeed in advanced placement courses, STEM-related subjects, and higher-level foreign language courses found typically in more affluent high schools throughout Charlotte.

Success in nationally acclaimed courses challenge our students intellectually, but meaningful learning cannot be contained solely in the classroom. Economic hardships prevent many of our students from ever traveling outside of Charlotte and many students have never crossed State lines. Students with the highest intellectual prowess can hardly fathom colleges and universities outside the North Carolina prevue and fail to realize how their incredible voice can enrich college campuses across the country. Our students possess every academic and emotional capacity to defy the expectations projected upon first-generation college students and mobilize their communities that have been too often overlooked. In the pursuit of fortifying the belief that all of our most academically competitive and driven students embody the qualities of a nationally competitive student, we wish to take ten students on a super amazing trip to Nashville, Tennessee.

Our students will visit the renowned Vanderbilt University to tour the gorgeous grounds, speak with faculty and students, and engage with admissions counselors on how best they can prepare for their college application process. Students will also be expected to reach out to professors in their chosen course of interest to discuss current research projects and courses taught by current faculty.

We will continue to broaden the perspectives of our students on our Nashville trip with a visit to the newly opened KIPP Collegiate Nashville. Students will have the opportunity to meet with current students their age to experience the unity found in a common purpose and extend their own experience to a new group of students. In addition, we hope to further enrich the artistic experience of our students by attending a Broadway Musical performance at the Nashville Theatre for students to experience an evening of elegance, excellence, and excitement.

For our super incredible college opportunity to manifest, for our students to feel valued and recognized for their diligence and dedication to school, and for our students to not feel the door slam on another opportunity to actualize their dreams, we sincerely need your help.  Any donation, small or big, will help fundamentally transform the lives of the students we regard as extended members of our family.

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Ana Cunningham posted a new update:
about 9 years ago

Update #7

Y'all, words will never quite encapsulate the euphoric feeling I have in how far we have come in bridging an opportunity gap for ten super sensational students. I want to extend my most sincere and heartfelt gratitude for all the incredibly gracious donations of our super duper awesome supporters-- we have surpassed 86% of our total fundraising amount!

Our students do not regard education as merely a means to an eventual end in the future. Our students feel strongly that their education will unlock doors that have barred their family members from previous opportunities. With our students, they do not consider their teachers as basic adults in a room. Instead, they consider our teaching as the meaningful tools to engage productively in society. The high academic caliber wielded by each students reveals how they want to use their personal gifts to enrich our world and y'all's effort to send Lauren, Courtney G, Geena, Jessica, Nalexus, Tom, Sorali, Courtney S, Diana and Victor, our ever consistent nationally competitive students, exemplifies that their choice for excellence will forever trump status.

Your profound belief in our students' capacity to shatter stereotypes and propel themselves forward solidifies their inherent value in the world. Thank you to all of our most generous supporters and everyone who has shared our page either on Facebook or with people in person--we are profoundly grateful :)

We have two days left for Lauren, Courtney G, Geena, Jessica, Nalexus, Tom, Sorali, Courtney S, Diana and Victor, our super awesome nationally competitive students, to engage in a meaningful college session at KIPP Nashville and experience Vanderbilt University. Please help us enable that all students discuss pertinent education issues with school leaders and experience the joys of college dining hall food--educational equity begins with a broadened societal perspective that they can absolutely gain from the Nationally Competitive Experience: Nashville 2015.

Please support our students in their pursuit to experience their first Broadway play, taste their first s'more, and enjoy awesome Italian food at Bucca di Beppo and wonderful southern comfort food. Help our students feel that their personal experiences can change outcomes and that the pursuit of excellence manifests in a beyond prosperous future :)

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Ana Cunningham posted a new update:
about 9 years ago

Update #6

Y'all, I can barely maintain a dry-eyed composure in my attempts to express my warmest and gracious appreciation for all the amazingly gracious donations of our super duper awesome supporters-- we have surpassed 50% of our total fundraising amount!

One of my most splendid students, Mr. Alex (a current freshman at Morehouse College) once told me 'Ms. Cunningham, for man, the dream has always been enough'--I never forgot his wise words of wisdom and I have seen the tangible impact of his thoughtfulness. Our efforts to send Lauren, Courtney G, Geena, Jessica, Nalexus, Tom, Sorali, Courtney S, Diana and Victor, our ever earnest nationally competitive students, would not be possible without your incredible support. Your belief in our students to engage meaningfully in the world confirms that sincere excellence pervades all obstacles and possible barriers. Thank you to all of our most generous supporters and everyone who has shared our page either on Facebook or with people in person--we are beyond grateful :)

We have eight days left for Lauren, Courtney G, Geena, Jessica, Nalexus, Tom, Sorali, Courtney S, Diana and Victor, our super awesome nationally competitive students, to broaden their educational experience with a visit to KIPP Nashville and Vanderbilt University. Please help us ensure they sit with school leaders and meet students their own age to deepen their understanding of how education transforms lives and visit a super nifty school!

Please meet our students call to experience their first Broadway play and enjoy awesome Italian food at Bucca di Beppo. Help our students feel that their voices do hold meaningful value and that their grit and a growth mindset dictate future outcomes :)

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Ana Cunningham posted a new update:
about 9 years ago

Update #5

Y'all, I can hardly find words to express my most sincere and gracious appreciation for all the tremendously gracious donations of our super duper awesome supporters-- we have surpassed the $2,000 mark!

We will soon exceed the threshold of our next fundraising marker and my students and I could not be more thrilled. Thank you to all of our most generous supporters and everyone who has shared our page either on Facebook or with people in person--we are exorbitantly appreciative :)

We have eight days left to send: Lauren, Courtney G, Geena, Jessica, Nalexus, Tom, Sorali, Courtney S, Diana and Victor, our ever earnest nationally competitive students, on a memorable experience to Nashville, Tennessee. Our students promptly have extended their own writing voice to their families and friends to collectively raise our remaining funds--please join them in their sincere pursuit to enrich their high school experience by experiencing a vivacious and vibrant city in Nashville.

Please meet our students' call to experience first hand the amazing splendor of college life and a diverse city --help them feel that opportunity gaps can bridge and manifest in a life altering experience for their future :)

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Ana Cunningham posted a new update:
about 9 years ago

Update #3

Y'all, words can hardly encapsulate the sincere gratitude and appreciation I hold for all the gracious donations of our super duper awesome supporters-- we have reached 25% of our total fundraising goal! With fourteen days left in our most nationally competitive campaign, I know that we can reach the full amount of our total fundraising goal. My students and I extend our warmest wishes to all of our most generous supporters and everyone who has shared our page either on Facebook or with people in person--we are sincerely so appreciative :)

We have fourteen days left to send: Lauren, Courtney G, Geena, Jessica, Nalexus, Tom, Sorali, Courtney S, Diana and Nick, our super nifty and supremely awesome nationally competitive students, on a life enriching experience to Nashville, Tennessee. Our students promptly submitted all required paperwork and have begun their research on which professors to contact in their selected academic area of interest to coordinate a meeting with a professor when we visit campus. Please help our super awesome students make their meeting with distinguished scholars and actualize their collegiate dreams for the first time--help foster a genuine love of learning and motivate our diligent students to value their consistent and earnest efforts to create a successful future :)

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Ana Cunningham posted a new update:
about 9 years ago

Update #2

I am enormously humbled and beyond appreciative of all the gracious donations of our super duper awesome supporters-- we have surpassed the $1,000 mark! We are nearing ever closer to the full amount of our total fundraising goal! Thank you to all of our most generous supporters and everyone who has shared our page either on Facebook or with people in person--we are sincerely so appreciative :)

We have twenty-one days left to send: Lauren, Courtney G, Geena, Jessica, Nalexus, Tom, Sorali, Courtney S, Diana and Nick, our most nationally competitive students, on an incredible experience to Nashville, Tennessee. Our students promptly responded with incredible professionalism and poise to the interview questions from the Scholarship Committee and wrote earnest words of wonder and awe at the possibility of visiting a world-renowned university. Please help send our magnificent students on the most incredible life experience--help them feel valued and appreciated for their consistent academic excellence and personal fortitude. :)

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Ana Cunningham posted a new update:
about 9 years ago

Update #1

With the gracious donations of our super duper awesome supporters, we have reached 10% of our total fundraising goal! Thank you to all of our most gracious supporters and everyone who has shared our page either on Facebook or with people in person--we are eternally grateful :)

We have twenty-eight days left to send the most nationally competitive students on an incredible experience to Nashville, Tennessee and our students have completed a super arduous application and rigorous interview to be eligible for the super excellent trip. Please help send them on the most awesome experience for them to recognize value and meaning in their high school experience :)

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