Program Stories

Five Years of Growth: Witnessing Henry Thrive in Early Childhood Education at Unleashing Potential

Read about Henry’s journey as he becomes kindergarten ready.

Drawing in a Classroom Setting: Joy Discovers a New Passion

Joy had never worked with drawing in a classroom setting. That is, until Unleashing Potential provided art canvases to each of our afterschool sites.

The Write Idea: How Afterschool Helped Maria with the Creative Writing Process

Maria knew the basics of her fantasy story. But she kept getting stuck. Luckily, her site manager also liked to write and knew a thing or two about the creative writing process.

Faith in the (Drawing) Process: Cultural Arts at Unleashing Potential

Faith’s dream is to be a famous artist. She is very talented at drawing, and particularly enjoys painting.

In Unleashing Potential’s summer enrichment program at Church of the Master, the leaders have helped her find her voice in that. This summer, the focus at Church of the Master has tended toward STEAM – science, technology, engineering, cultural arts and math. Faith has enjoyed those activities, and she’s especially loved the hands-on activities.

“The teachers really support what I do,” she said.

How Marcus Improved in Swimming through Swim Lessons

The first week of summer enrichment, Marcus took swim lessons. He was attending the Unleashing Potential summer enrichment program at Delmar DivINe, and they had taken a field trip to the O’Fallon Park Recreation Complex pool. But he wasn’t allowed in the deep end. He would have to pass his swim test first.

How Tyrone Learned to Manage Conflict through Pokémon Cards

One day at lunch, Tyrone traded a Pokémon card. The way he saw it, trading was an aspect that came with playing Pokémon. Once the trading was over, he assumed, everybody would get their cards back. But then Tyrone asked for one of his cards back, and the other person wouldn’t return it. At first, Tyrone was upset. But, after speaking with the site manager, they realized together this could be an opportunity for Tyrone to manage conflict for himself, and also set the tone for how the younger kids could manage conflict as well.

The Drone STEM Activity that Made Bryson’s Summer Enrichment Especially Memorable

Working with a team, Bryson engineered an obstacle as part of a drone STEM activity. They taped two cardboard boxes together, into almost a chimney shape. The drone would fly in at the top and come out of the chute at the bottom, like a candy bar being dispensed.

A Role Model for the Younger Ones: JaRon on What It Takes to Appropriately Express Emotions and Behaviors

JaRon held a stethoscope to his dog’s chest, listened for a heartbeat. The dog was showing signs of sickness. It had swallowed a spoon.

Luckily, the dog was only a stuffed animal. It was going to be all right. The exercise was from Little Vet School, an organization that had come out for the week to work with the children at Delmar DivINe, one of Unleashing Potential’s summer enrichment programs.

The instructor began to share next steps for the class. One of JaRon’s friends continued to speak. But JaRon focused his attention on the instructor, and soon his friend followed suit. This was one of the ways JaRon served as a role model for younger kids in the program – by modeling how to appropriately express emotions and behaviors.

Blast Off! Luna Learns Rocket Science through Unleashing Potential

Outside, the children gathered on the sidewalk, facing a field. They’d just spent the past few hours engaged in rocket science. They’d built the rockets, and now they were ready to launch them.

“All the way to space!” said Luna.

Well, not quite. But it did make it to the far end of the field.

How Summer Enrichment Pulled Kaden out of His Shell

Kaden enjoyed playing video games during Unleashing Potential’s summer enrichment camp in the Ferguson-Florissant area because it was a chance to engage in friendly competition and make new friends.

Checkmate! How Chess Benefits Logan in After School

When he first started, Logan had no idea of how much he would benefit from playing chess. Now, after a few games, his love of chess has even extended beyond the Unleashing Potential program.

How Social-Emotional Learning Helped Deonna Come Out of Her Shell

When Deonna first entered Unleashing Potential’s before- and after-care as a second grader, she felt a little scared. She already knew a few of the kids, but she didn’t know any of the adults. That was ok, though, because Unleashing Potential has social-emotional learning built into our curriculum that helped her come out of her shell.

Strengthening the Family’s Core: How Strengthening Resilient Families Helped Tanya

Tanya’s 6-year-old son was in the gymnasium, building with Legos, and her 10-year-old was playing video games, when she stepped into a room set aside for parents.

All three were at Immanuel United Church of Christ, 221 Church St. in Ferguson, as part of Unleashing Potential’s monthly Day of Play event. Tanya was participating in Strengthening Resilient Families, an Unleashing Potential program led by Niesha Nelson that partners with families, strengthening the family’s core foundation with sustainable resources.

“A Transformative Experience” – Myron on Unleashing Potential’s Youth Program for STEAM

Myron had never thought about how STEAM could be used to achieve global goals, and that the purpose wasn’t just STEAM for STEAM’s sake. But this is exactly what they focused on as part of the first cohort of GPS: Geo Power Squad, a new youth program for STEAM offered for 6^th through 8^th graders in the Ferguson-Florissant School District by Unleashing Potential.

How St. Louis Science Center Expanded Kingston’s Curiosity

A field trip by some of the children from Caroline Mission to the St. Louis Science Center helped one young boy in particular, Kingston, to expand his curiosity!

Ripping the Runway in Cardboard Shoes: How a Fashion Show Taught Harper Engineering Concepts

A week of hard work led up to it, but, on Friday, Harper and her friends were ready to rip the runway. At Griffith Elementary in the Ferguson-Florissant School District, the kids in Unleashing Potential’s Afterschool program had designed cardboard shoes, and Friday was the Fashion Show where they would show off their designs to their parents.

How the Social Experience of GPS: Geo Power Squad Helped Camila

Camila doesn’t necessarily think of herself as a person who talks much. She would call herself a little shy.

But when she entered Immanuel United Church of Christ, she “instantly connected” with her peers, she said.

Caroline Mission – “A Support System Outside of Your Family” for Asher and Leilani

Asher was severely underweight and experienced persistent acid reflux. The lack of nutrition caused hair loss. Asher also demonstrated significant delays in reaching critical milestones. At 18 months, he was neither walking nor talking. Leilani sought help anywhere she could. Eventually, through recommendations from friends, she enrolled Asher at Caroline Mission, Unleashing Potential’s Early Childhood Education Center.

Slime Time: How Unleashing Potential Afterschool Staff Came Up with Programming to Match Kinsley’s Interests

Kinsley loves slime. Her best friend knows how to make over a dozen different types, and during Covid-19, Kinsley watched videos of child Youtubers making it. So when Ms. Shawnica and Ms. Zoe introduced an experiment where the children could choose between making different types of slime, Kinsley was all-in.

Rock, Paper, Scissors against a Computer: How Timmy Discovered His Love of Computer Science

As Timmy entered Immanuel United Church of Christ, he didn’t know what to expect. His mom had signed him up for GPS: Geo Power Squad. But after the first week, he found he really liked his peers and teachers, and also enjoyed learning about new technology, particularly Micro:bits.

Cal’s Got Talent! How Unleashing Potential Helped Cal Gain Confidence for the Afterschool Talent Show

At first, Cal was nervous. He’d never really been on stage and, even though it was mostly his peers in the afterschool program, a bunch of new faces were filtering in through the gym doors of Griffith Elementary School – family coming for the Unleashing Potential Talent Show.

An Open Book: St. Louis University Senior Patrick Bausch Secures Grant for Caroline Mission to Help Improve Literacy

Funds focus on literary success in early childhood education for families in diverse neighborhoods in St. Louis

Flynn Park Parent

“Our children attend the before and after school program at Flynn Park 3 days a week. My husband and I are so pleased with the quality programming that is provided! Racheal and the other staff members create such a caring a structured environment, it is more than impressive. It is hard to be a working parent, but it’s so nice to feel that our children are in such a wonderful environment.” – Flynn Park Parent