FLOC's Annual Recognition Event took place June 6th at the Universalist National Memorial Church. Community partners, families, students, and staff gathered to honor those who made a real difference to FLOC in helping provide high quality services to students in Washington, DC and West Virginia. Students, families, and tutors in the various programs were also honored for their accomplishments over the year.

Many people helped position FLOC for success this year by donating time, showing dedication, and providing services for our students. Prep Matters was chosen as the FLOC Partner of the Year for providing free tutoring to individual FLOC high school students in preparation for the SAT and ACT. This is their third year partnering with the Educational Guidance and Advocacy program at FLOC.

Additionally, West Virginia Promise was selected as the West Virginia Partner of the Year for their dedication to helping the Outdoor Education Center succeed in helping students prepare for success in school, work, and life. Thanks to successful partnerships in the DC and West Virginia areas, FLOC is able to better meet the needs of the students we serve.

Students in each of the programs FLOC offers were chosen based on their dedication and commitment to their individual programs, bettering themselves, and showing growth throughout the year. Calvin Allen-Crawford was chosen as the ‘Leaders in the Making’ student of the year for his dedication to FLOC and the LITM program, his positive attitude, and his positive growth. Calvin has been a participant in the LITM program for the past two years. Despite facing several obstacles in his young life, Calvin has displayed resilience and continues to be successful in all the projects he undertakes. FLOC’s West Virginia Leaders in the Making Program student of the year is April Brenner. April has been a Leaders student for two years. She consistently brings a smile to workshop, an open mind, and the belief that she can make a difference.

The Neighborhood Tutoring Program’s (NTP) Tuesday evening reading program student of the year is Brandon Henry who has proved to be the true definition of a hard-working student. Throughout the 2007-08 school year, Brandon has grown socially, behaviorally, and academically. Often seen as a shy student, Brandon has opened up and gained more confidence in everything he does. Brandon is sure to continue doing great things at FLOC, at his school, in his community, and in the world.

Diamond Bullock was chosen as NTP’s Saturday afternoon reading program student of the year. Diamond came to tutoring in October and worked diligently with her tutor each week. Not only did Diamond have perfect attendance, but she also earned the most behavior points out of every student, and passed the most tests in the program. Great job, Diamond!

Jose Fuentes was chosen as Cesar Chavez Public Charter High School’s student of the year for his dedication to FLOC and his own learning. As a senior, Jose has the highest attendance rate in his program and has also made a lot of progress through the curricula.

Savion Gales is student of the year for FLOC’s Bunker Hill Elementary School program because of his enthusiasm for FLOC, his attendance, and his diligent progress through both the math and reading curricula. Savion worked hard each session, received the ‘Perfect Attendance’ award for the spring semester, and was a sweet and dedicated FLOC student.

Erin Batie was chosen as the Wednesday evening math program student of the year. She is an extremely bright and outgoing young lady. Her dedication to tutoring and desire to take full advantage of her time with her tutor are both reasons why Erin has made such significant progress through our math curriculum.

Vanessa Melgares was chosen as Ross Elementary School’s student of the year because she was always present to program, upbeat about learning, prepared to work, and well behaved. Vanessa mastered multiplication and nearly finished division while working this year. She and her tutor worked very well together and even when another student had to work with them, Vanessa continued to stay on task.

Tayanna Leonor was chosen as NTP’s Saturday morning program student of the year. She has seen much success in the program as she has gained strong mastery of all the math and reading concepts covered during tutoring. She has shown over and over again that she is a very respectful and patient student. Tayanna’s intellectual curiosity, hard work, and sweet nature are all reasons Tayanna is a student of the year!

Chaka Williams was selected as Garrison Elementary School’s student of the year because he has worked extremely hard this year. He has been very motivated during sessions, even asking his tutor to skip activity time to continue working on new material. He also has a huge heart, a strong desire to progress through material, undeniable patience, and an extremely outgoing personality.

The next set of awards were given to the students in the Educational Guidance and Advocacy’s (EG&A) programs. EG&A’s Freshman Student of the Year is Tyesha Day who is an active member of EG&A programming. She excelled in contributing to group discussion and listening to other students within programming. She is both focused and responsible and throughout the year has continued to bring new perspectives, great ideas, and thoughtfulness to workshops.

EG&A’s Sophomore Student of the Year is Alicia Williams. Alicia is enthusiastic about projects, respectful of her classmates, and always interested in learning. She truly is a delight in workshop.

EG&A’s Junior Student of the Year is Erica Lopez. Over the years, Erica has grown socially, academically, and personally in her dedication to workshop. She is a student who always made a point of engaging new students in workshop. She is also a leader in group activities. She rarely misses a workshop and her strong commitment to workshop was demonstrated further when she joined EG&A staff on the spring break college trip. She is truly committed to finding the right college and is excited about the journey that lies ahead of her.

The Educational Guidance and Advocacy program would not be complete without our seniors. We’re going to miss them at FLOC next year. We would like to recognize all the seniors: Shaniqua Blake, Brock Brown, Jeremy Chriss, Matthew Devonish, Ronald Edwards, Dileydis Grullon, Brittany Harris, Julius Johnson, Giang Nguyen, Brittany Okafor, Chaqounna Price, Lawrence Robinson, Kimberly Tam, Eva Taiibi, Timaja Venable, Jazmyne Wade, and Brandon Whiting. Congratulations, Seniors! Best of luck next year in all your endeavors!

Senior Shaniqua Blake spoke about her memories of FLOC over the years. Shaniqua has been an instructor at our summer academy and a FLOC tutor during the school year. She is a role model for our younger students and for her peers.

Many students who attend the programs at FLOC rely on parental support, and no family better showed their dedication than the Mahmoud family. The Mahmoud’s have three children in the tutoring program at Ross Elementary School and none of the kids have ever missed program. The family has attended several FLOC events and continues to show their dedication to the work done to help their children find success. Congratulations, Mahmoud Family!

Of course, FLOC can not run successful programs without the help of dedicated volunteers! Mamiko Saikawa is a volunteer in the Saturday Morning Tutoring program who is rarely absent and has remained loyal to her student for close to 3 years! She is an engaging tutor and always uses a variety of activities to motivate her student. She has volunteered at other FLOC events and encourages former volunteers to return to the program. We are grateful to have such dedicated volunteers like Mamiko!