This summer seventeen AALEAD high school students from both D.C. and Montgomery County, Maryland took part in a six week Workplace Mentoring Program in partnership with IBM. Each week, students travelled to IBM’s offices in D.C. to meet with IBM mentors and discussed topics such as resume building, interview skills, internships, and workplace culture and ethics. The program ended with presentations from the students about what they learned and how they plan to apply the information they learned in the near future. One student wrote about the program: “I like what we’re doing because it really helps me think about the future.” Another student wrote “I loved the feedback and advice.” The IBM mentors closed the program with a presentation of their own: An Ice Cream making demo using liquid nitrogen.

 The AALEAD students enjoyed working with their mentors and learned a great deal about work, college, and life. To our IBM mentors who took time out of their busy schedules to give back, thank you so much for investing in our youth and we hope that you continue to stay involved with AALEAD!

In Memoriam

The Board, staff and students of AALEAD were saddened by the sudden death of Mary Meehee Hwang , past board member,  who passed away from a cerebral aneurysm on August 10, 2011 at her home in Chevy Chase, Maryland. We send our condolences to her family, especially to her husband, Richard Gluck, and her two children, Julia and Alexander.

Meehee was a past member of AALEAD’s Development Committee and generous supporter of AALEAD’s programs.   In paying tribute to Meehee’s commitment and service to AALEAD, Rosetta Lai, the Executive Director of AALEAD said:  “Meehee was a dear friend, who gave me advice and encouragement in my work at AALEAD.  I will miss the walks we took together and the stimulating discussions we had on a range of topics.  Her untimely death is a loss to all the causes she supported, but her spirit and dedication will continue to live in our work and in our hearts.”

Our DC Secondary School Program has been taking full advantage of summer by giving our students time to spend outdoors. Twice a week students practice volleyball skills as a part of a team building curriculum put together by one of our interns. Using different skills in volleyball, students were required to learn how to play as a team. At the end of Summer students will compete with each other in a volleyball tournament. As a reward for working hard through the first half of summer programs, students were able to attend the opening of Harry Potter in Chinatown. So far all of the students are enjoying the mix of enrichment workshops and fun activities. Recently, SSP took at trip to Cameron Run Water Park in Virginia. The students spent the whole day relaxing with students from other AALEAD programs.