Community service has been
an integral part of the mission of Marian since the founding of the school in
1955. During the summer of 2004,
however, Marian will be opening its doors to the Omaha community in a different
way.
On Friday, Feb. 13, Head of
School Miss Elizabeth Kish met with Family Service executives Fawn Taylor,
director of North Omaha Services, and Ann O’Connor, vice president of the
Nebraska community, to make final arrangements for a summer Fine Arts Academy for
less privileged young girls to take place at Marian.
“We’re hoping to gain a
sense of community from this cooperative effort with Family Service. This will provide the opportunity for Marian
to serve as an institution and reach out to those less fortunate,” said Kish.
This program, an extension
of the Family Service Solomon Girls Center of Omaha in affiliation with United
Way of the Midlands and ConAgra, will be an extensive 10-week program running
from the first week of June through the second week of August. The girls will be at Marian from 8 a.m.
until 5 p.m. for five days each week.
Taylor is thrilled to have
the opportunity to hold this program at Marian. “We chose Marian because it’s a great facility with lots of open
space and a beautiful campus, and will provide many more opportunities for our
girls,” said Taylor.
Kish is also very excited
about having the program at Marian. “My
delight in what has happened is reflected in everyone’s reactions when I told
them about the plans. The teachers and
Servants of Mary were very supportive, and I even had some people come up to me
and ask how they can get involved,” said Kish.
The Solomon Girls Center
joined with Family Service in 1973. It
is a center that offers after-school and summer programs for young girls in the
Omaha area. Prior to 1973, the center
was a part of the YWCA’s North Omaha Outreach program and was located in the
Logan Fontenelle public housing community.
It began as the Kellom Girls
Club and kept this name until 1982, when it was renamed the Kellom Girls Center
to avoid any confusion between it and the Omaha Girls Club.
In 1986 the center was
renamed the Solomon Girls Center to honor one of the program’s founders, Mrs.
Ruth K. Solomon. In 1992, the Omaha
Housing Authority demolished the Logan Fontenelle housing projects and the
center moved to its present location at 6720 North 30th St.
The mission of the Solomon
Girls Center is to “provide activities and guidance enabling each girl to find
her own identity; develop her potential; and achieve a sense of responsibility
to herself, her family and her community.”
Activities at the current center include workshops on life skills,
hygiene, cooking, homework, computers, career education and communication
skills, to name a few.
These activities are
intended to enhance the participant’s self-esteem and ability to interact with
peers in a way that meets mutual needs and respects the rights of others and
also to build leadership and cooperation skills.
Seventy-five to 100 girls
are expected to attend the summer fine arts program at Marian, the majority of
whom will be African American. The
eventual vision of this program is to expand each year, hopefully adding 75-100
girls from the Latino community in the years following. Parents of the attendees will pay only $50
for the entire 10-week session. Signups
for the program will begin in mid-April.
The program will take place
in the cafeteria, four or five classrooms and the gymnasium. “A theater is still in the plans for the
future, but for right now we will use existing rooms. This will put a new face on the school in the summertime, kind of
like a school within a school,” said Kish.
The girls in the summer
program will have opportunities to participate in dance, arts and crafts,
music, Spanish, recreation and field trips during the duration of the program.
Funding comes from United Way of the Midlands, and Family Service also has a
grant from Peter Kiewit for field trips.
ConAgra will provide breakfast and lunch for the girls each day.
Family Service is looking
for volunteers to help the girls with reading, recreational activities and
field trips. “If a Marian student has a
particular talent that they want to share with the program, we would be pleased
to have their help,” said Taylor.
Interested students are asked to contact ___ for more information.
In a press release (?) on
March 8, 2004, Kish explained the program and expressed her enthusiasm for
it. “The vision of sharing the
blessings of our fine facilities with other young girls has been realized. The passion of believing in the vision has
been renewed. We are excited and
energized by the prospect of serving the needs of the academy and the girls who
participate,” wrote Kish.
“We’re very pleased and
grateful for everything that’s happened. We’re all so excited to have the
opportunity to make use of Marian’s facilities,” said Taylor.
The Marian community has
been privileged to be a part of this partnership with Family Service. As Kish so eloquently put it, “The arms of
the institution named after Mary will embrace a different piece of the
world. With all our prayers and
efforts, we will be a part of bringing more hope to the world and be blessed
again and again, summer after summer for years to come.”