Turning Over a New Leaf at First Star
The 2019-20 school year is underway for our scholars
Our Academy scholars are taking on the new school year. After a summer filled with rigorous academic programming, field trips, college tours, community building, and a whole lot of fun, our scholars are already tackling new academic challenges and achieving great heights!

📷: First Star College of Staten Island Academy
First Star Academy Spotlight:
The First Star Loyola University Chicago Academy
The First Star Loyola University Chicago Academy (LUC) is run in conjunction with Loyola's School of Social Work, and within their Center for Research on Self-Sufficiency (CROSS). Under the leadership of Academy Director Dr. Bridget Couture, scholars at our LUC Academy have had an action-packed year. In May 2019, they celebrated the graduation of their senior cohort and this summer were able to bring on a brand new cohort of ninth and tenth graders who are already a big part of the First Star family. The new scholars will spend the year ahead assessing their academic needs, starting SAT/ACT prep, learning leadership and advocacy skills, and building the community they will need to successfully graduate from high school and go onto college.

What First Star means to our LUC Scholars

"First Star Loyola is important to me because it gives me a place to feel at home; with and around people whom I can be myself. The people at First Star have become a family to me." - Abby

"First Star Loyola Academy is important to me because I have built relationships and now have stable, mature adults in my life that I can look up to." - Lemiah

"It's important because I don't really go outside, so when I come to the program I feel like I have more freedom and peace of mind." - Akeem
First Star LUC Academy Staff Spotlight:

Dr. Bridget Couture
Academy Director
[link removed]
Listen to Bridget's account of one experience with a scholar that fills us all with hope.
Dr. Bridget Couture has spent her life and career working with marginalized communities around the world. Her early career was spent working in rural Ohio and Kentucky, providing youth and teen programming at a community youth center. Seeing, first hand, some of the unjust social systems that can lead to disenfranchisement, she decided to pursue a Masters in Pastoral Studies and became a University Ministry intern at Loyola University Chicago. She continued to learn from people on the margins of society by serving as the coordinator of Alternative Break Immersions where she accompanied undergraduates in traveling and learning from people in developing nations and communities. Bridget's deep belief in education, led her to pursue a Doctorate in Education, as a way to bring about social change and justice. From there she worked throughout the Chicagoland area teaching ESL to refugees and GED to high school drop-outs in Austin. In addition to her amazing work as the LUC Academy Director,
Bridget is currently pursuing her MSW at Loyola University Chicago in order to better serve youth and families from traumatized backgrounds.

In her personal life, Bridget and her husband are proud parents through adoption, with a family that identifies as Ethiopian, Irish, French Canadian, and African-American. Her dedication to the LUC students since becoming the First Star LUC Academy Director in 2018 has been inspirational. We look forward to sharing in her continued success as she helps shape the lives of our LUC scholars.
What is the best part of the First Star program?

"The people, because they are family." - Jamela

"Spending time together during the summer." - Albert

"The best thing about the program is getting to know these people on a personal level and getting to know their story." - Miranda
First Star LUC Academy Peer Mentor

Brandon

Brandon is a 2018 graduate of the First Star Loyola University Chicago Academy. He is now attending Wilbur Wright College, pursuing a degree in engineering. His passion for the program and wanting to set a good example for the next cohort of First Star students is what has inspired him to come back and serve as a peer mentor.


"First Star helped me so much in high school and gave me a lot of options to pursue college. Because I was a First Star scholar, I understand that there are always people who can help, as long as you reach out to them and ask. My advice to current LUC Academy students is to be open. It's going to be tough. It's going to be demanding. But have fun with it!" - Brandon
What do you dream of becoming?

"I want to become a teacher" - Laila

"Forensic Scientist" - Iyanna

"I want to be a writer or a social worker for kids through the DCFS system." - Miranda

"Engineer"- Anonymous
First Star LUC Academy University Partner

Bruce McCree
Operations Commander for the Department of Campus Safety
[link removed]
Bruce McCree got involved with the LUC Academy to help change the lives of our scholars. His aim is to educate the students on how to properly interact with authority and he has made himself available at any time to offer advice and guidance. Listen to Bruce express his wishes for our scholars and for First Star across the country.
What's the most important thing you've learned about yourself?

"That I am a leader." - Akeem

"My worth. I always struggle with that but it's made it easier for me to put myself out there. Now I'm more confident." - Miranda

"I've learned that I really can be whoever I want to be." - Abby

"That I am loved, and not just by my biological siblings." - Lemiah
Save the Date!
December 3, 2019 is Giving Tuesday
There are so many ways to give this #GivingTuesday. On December 3, 2019, join the movement and give - whether it’s some of your time, a donation, or the power of your voice. This year help us by spreading the word about the transformative power of First Star. Follow us below on all of our social media handles, where you'll hear more about all the ways you can help throughout this giving season.
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
In the News

National

According to the annual report from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), t ([link removed]) he number of youth in foster care declined ([link removed]) ([link removed]) for the first time since 2011. The number of youth in care during 2018 was 437,283, which is down from 441,000 in 2017. Lynn Johnson, the Department of Health and Human Services assistant secretary for children and families said, “This administration has focused on primary prevention and adoption, and we are starting to see some better results.”

Louisiana

Sonja Brown-Tillison is putting together two of her passions: food and helping kids in foster care. ([link removed]) A former foster youth herself, she became a social worker to focus on helping youth as they age out of the system. Now, she employs foster youth at her new restaurant, NOLA Vegan Cafe in New Orleans. “When kids age out of foster care, their focus is housing, employment and education. A lot of times, they don't have a lot of work experience at 18,” Sonya said.

New York

Lamont Thomas of Buffalo, NY, a single father who has taken in more than 30 foster children since 2000, is now a proud parent of 12 after adopting five siblings. ([link removed]) "In the beginning, I was helping out some friends. They had lost their child to the system," Thomas said. "I went on and got certified and became a foster parent. I haven't stopped since." Lamont has never turned a child away. They have either aged out or gone back home to their own families.

There's no better time than now to make a Gift to First Star!
Help make sure our scholars are ready for success this year!
Donate Today ([link removed])

============================================================
Copyright © 2019 First Star, Inc. All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
2049 Century Park East, Suite 4320
Los Angeles, CA 90067
[link removed]

** Unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.