MEET ARLETYS GOMEZ Arletys started coming to Grace Place in 2010. After being introduced to the organization through volunteering, she enrolled in the AP Leadership program. There she gained access to College Access Workshops, ACT preparation classes, college visits, job skills training, and a mentorship program. She learned leadership skills, formed life-long friendships, and found [...]
Grace Place Earns Leader in Me Lighthouse Organization Certification from FranklinCovey 2019 is off to a momentous start! We are happy to announce we are officially a Leader in Me Lighthouse Organization. This honor makes Grace Place the first of its’ kind in the world to fully integrate FranklinCovey’s 7 Habits of Highly [...]
WE’RE TICKLED “BLUE!” We are pleased to share that Grace Place is now a certified Blue Zones Project approved worksite. Blue Zones Project is a community-wide, well-being improvement initiative to help make healthy choices easier for everyone in Southwest Florida. The global movement offers solutions for worksites to inspire and encourage employees to [...]
It’s a Holly, Jolly Christmas at Grace Place! All week long, families, staff, and volunteers hosted Christmas themed events and brought the Christmas Spirit to our campus for all our amazing students. To kick off the festivities, our Bright Beginnings moms hosted a special Christmas presentation and impressed staff and volunteers alike. With [...]
Bright Beginnings Classrooms Celebrate Thanksgiving Our Bright Beginnings preschoolers and moms got a nice break from their busy routines and hosted a Thanksgiving celebration in our classrooms. Many of our students and parents are new to Thanksgiving and this was a great chance to teach them the origins of this gratifying holiday [...]
Ideas Come to Life at Grace Place's Invention Convention Imagine an easier and perhaps improved life with tools like a “Braille Crayon”, a “Solar Smartphone” or a “Book-a-tron.” The Academy of Leaders Elementary Students went beyond an idea and brought these tools to life. Fueled by their curiosity and imagination, the [...]
Splashes of Hope Leaves A Colorful Mark on Campus A new, vibrant mural welcomes students, staff and volunteers thanks to our friends at Splashes of Hope. Dubbed “The Leadership Tree,” the massive depiction, canvas? is seen just when you enter the Grace Place campus and the impressive project only took three days [...]
Our Students Celebrate Afterschool Programs in Nationwide Event Uncooked spaghetti, marshmallows and tape. No, this isn’t your average arts and crafts exercise. In coordination with Lights On Afterschool, our Academy of Leaders put their engineering skills to the test and attempted to build the highest tower possible out of uncooked spaghetti, marshmallows, and tape. [...]
Through Dramatic Play, Children Prepare for the Real World A group of preschoolers playing pizza shop may seem like a simple afternoon of clean fun, but they’re engaging in a positive learning experience called dramatic (or pretend) play. The process of “pretending” builds skills in many essential developmental areas and offers proven benefits [...]
Parents get a lesson in Wildly Important Goals Our Elementary Academy of Leaders recently invited their parents to an after-school Student Led Conference in our classrooms. Dozens of elementary students wrote down and decorated their Wildly Important Goal, or WIG, with colorful crayons and construction paper. Those students proudly flaunted their artwork [...]