The Story of Carpe Diem Academy

About two months ago, I went to a conference in Harrisburg. One of the presenters said to not tell about the program with statistics, but rather tell a story. This evening, I read through the blog entries beginning with Day 1 and ending with Go, Jeep, Go.

            Throughout my blogging, I have shared some stories, but realized I never shared the story of how Carpe Diem Academy came to be.

            In mid-October, Leanne Roberts (my boss at Mercyhurst) mentioned to me that she was in the process of writing a grant. I left the conversation without fully understanding what she was actually writing it for, but from the bits and pieces that I understood, it sounded good!

            In further discussion, the grant would be funded through 21^st Century Community Learning Centers. From my understanding, Leanne’s first reason for writing the grant was to provide the education majors for an optimal field experience. As she began researching, her main focused changed. She discovered the NEED of the community. She discovered the NEED of the community that lived just down the hill from her office. So she extended her focus. Yes, the education majors would have extensive field experience, while supporting the community that is only a mile or two from the campus.

You see, I didn’t have anything to do with the grant in the beginning. I was teaching first grade and in the evening I was teaching an education course (Which minds me, this is a reminder to my current students enrolled in Early Childhood Methods…keep reading the blog….there may be a question from the blog on your final!).

            As I was reading, “The Biggest Leaf Pile” to 24 first graders, Leanne was working on the literacy component for the grant. As I was counting pennies and nickels, and dimes with 24 first graders, Leanne was working on a $1.5 million dollar budget. As I was taking my students to lunch, Leanne was writing a snack and dinner into the daily schedule. As I was taking my students to recess, Leanne was asking JumpBunch if they would partner with the program to engage students in daily physical activity. As I was emailing a parent, Leanne was emailing the final draft of the grant. As I was dropping a Scholastic Book Order in the mail, Leanne was mailing copies of the grant to Harrisburg.

                                                                           

            About a week after the grant was submitted, I learned more about all that the grant proposal encompassed. Now, I have unlimited texting, but I think I exceeded the limit through the ongoing texts of, “Did you hear anything, yet.” One website listed the number of grants (over 100), the amount of dollars requested (over $33 million) and the amount of dollars available (about $17 million). The odds didn’t look too good. It was about 2 months of continuous pacing. Continuous wondering. Continuous “What if’s."

            In about mid-January, I got the call. The call saying the grant was funded. The call saying the grant was funded for the full $1.5 million dollars. The call saying the Carpe Diem Academy is now a reality.

            I didn’t respond as I thought I was going to. It was a mixture of emotions. Two days later, I turned in my 2 week notice. During those 2 weeks, I was preparing for a career change. During those 2 weeks, Leanne was already working on implementing the grant (I swear she has more than 24 hours in her days!). 

            In a nutshell, that is the story of how Carpe Diem Academy, began. That is reason why children in K-2 spend time after school in a safe environment, enjoy a nutritious snack, engage in physical activity, concentrate on math and literacy skills, and eat a healthy dinner during a 3 hour period after school Monday-Thursday. For those of you that are reading this blog for the first time, you will have to start with Day 1 and read all about what Carpe Diem Academy is and does.

Carpe Diem!

-Amy