Empowered: Student-driven employment for ALL

10/25/2024

Brookhaven Students Explore Lime Creek! 🪨🌿🦆

Our Brookhaven students had an adventurous day exploring the wonders of nature at Lime Creek Nature Center in Mason City! They learned about local wildlife, hiked through stunning trails, and even skipped rocks at Duckweed Pond.

From identifying rocks and plants to discovering turkey feathers, the students had a blast.

A big thank you to Lime Creek Nature Center/Cerro Gordo County Conservation Board Naturalists for sharing their knowledge and making this field trip unforgettable!

05/17/2024

Happy ! Get your own green tee from our website! https://bit.ly/452QFhf

02/13/2024

Building the Future, Tee by Tee by Koozie: Empowered Students Partner with Local Business Pinnacle Construction!

Check out these neat t-shirt and koozie designs created by our students for our wonderful community partner, Pinnacle Construction!

This project wasn't just about learning design principles and using the t-shirt press. It was about putting those skills into real-world action! Here's how our students embraced authentic learning:

➡️ Client Collaboration: Our design teams met with the Pinnacle representative to understand their needs and brand identity.
➡️ Problem-solving: Students tackled challenges like logo placement, color schemes, and messaging, developing critical thinking skills.
➡️ Communication & Teamwork: Collaborating on designs, providing feedback, and presenting their final choices honed their communication and teamwork abilities. ️
➡️ Meeting Deadlines: Working within a timeframe to deliver the final product demonstrates fundamental project management skills.
➡️ Technical Expertise: Learning to operate the t-shirt press safely and efficiently fostered technical and hands-on experience.

The final result? Not only did our students create professional-quality t-shirts that Pinnacle loves, but they also built confidence, valuable real-world skills, and a deeper understanding of design and entrepreneurship.

Huge shoutout to our creative crew at Central Iowa Juvenile Detention Center and Woodhaven Youth Shelter Classroom and our incredible partner Justin Garman Century 21 and Pinnacle Construction! Keep an eye out for these awesome t-shirts around town!

01/23/2024

Exciting news at CRAEA Brookhaven Youth Shelter!

Our Empowered students unleash their creativity and build valuable skills in a work-based learning project. Students are designing and creating t-shirts to support our speech-language pathology project, gaining hands-on experience in:

➡️ Critical thinking: Analyzing project goals and target audience to develop meaningful designs.
➡️ Communication: Collaborating with peers and professionals to refine ideas and bring their vision to life.
➡️ Creativity: Expressing themselves through unique designs and artistic techniques.
➡️ Collaboration: Working effectively as a team to brainstorm, problem-solve, and achieve shared goals.
➡️ Flexibility: Adapting to feedback and evolving project needs with a positive attitude.
➡️ Adaptability: Embracing new challenges and learning new skills along the way.
➡️ Productivity: Managing time effectively to meet deadlines and deliver high-quality work.
➡️ Accountability: Taking ownership of their tasks and contributing to the team's success.

This project is more than just creating cool tees; it's about empowering our students to build confidence, develop essential skills, and prepare for a bright future. We're incredibly proud of their hard work and dedication!

Rock a tee, empower youth! Grab your limited edition CRAEA t-shirt designed by our students while supporting their valuable work-based learning project.

Purchase your custom shirts on the Empowered website: https://bit.ly/3O9E8kv

11/10/2023

CRAEA Empowered students selling custom 50th-anniversary shirts!

Empowered is a student-driven, authentic, work-based learning project that provides our students with opportunities to grow their employability skills and Universal Constructs, (critical thinking, communication, creativity, collaboration, flexibility, adaptability, productivity and accountability skills) while in attendance at one of our special programs including youth shelter classrooms (Woodhaven & Brookhaven), detention center classrooms (North Iowa Juvenile Detention Services & Central Iowa Juvenile Detention Center) and River Hills School.

This Central Rivers AEA initiative provides students with authentic learning experiences through community partnerships. “Empowered students would like to help Central Rivers Area Education Agency celebrate 50 years of AEAs actively serving our communities and schools,” said an Empowered student. “We created custom merchandise and apparel for you to show your pride and honor the 50th anniversary.”

Purchase your 50th-anniversary short or long-sleeved custom shirts on the Empowered website. https://empowered-108606.square.site/s/shop

➡️ AEA "Throw Back" design Long Sleeve T: https://empowered-108606.square.site/product/aea-throw-back-design-long-sleeve-t/36?cp=true&sa=true&sbp=false&q=false

➡️ AEA "Throw Back" design Short Sleeve T: https://empowered-108606.square.site/product/aea-throw-back-design-short-sleeve-t/35?cp=true&sa=true&sbp=false&q=false

10/10/2023

The Brookhaven Youth Shelter classroom explored a volunteering opportunity at the Community Kitchen of North Iowa in Mason City.

As part of their education, students acquire valuable life skills related to cooking. These skills include food preparation, serving, boxing up take-out meals, giving them to clients, preparing trays, seating arrangements, cleanup, food safety, and the use of various kitchen utensils.

These students are putting these skills into practice by preparing meals for those who come to the facility for their midday meal. They are learning to give to others by volunteering.

Some other practical life skills include following directions, listening, working with others, communication skills, interacting with clients and staff, respect, and responsibility.

03/24/2023

These students did a wonderful job assembling gift boxes for the 2023 Superintendents Retreat at Central Rivers Area Education Agency! The boxes featured custom T-shirts, which were designed and produced by our very own Youth Shelter & Detention students, then quality-checked, folded, and packaged beautifully by students from River Hills School. What a great opportunity to share their awesome work!

03/13/2023

How cool is this: Students were excited to make some Shamrock Snacks for the pups at Aloha Pet Resort and Spa , but they couldn’t find a shamrock-shaped cookie cutter anywhere! Their solution? “Let’s 3D print our own!” Their impressive problem solving & technological skills totally saved the day 😊☘️

03/07/2023

Last week’s Authentic Learning Summit gave our students an opportunity to showcase the products and skills they’ve been working so hard on! Some friends from River Hills School were also able to join the fun!

Here’s what one student had to say about experience: “I loved making t-shirts with everyone and interacting with a lot of people. I loved using my social skills and loved making people smile. I love working hard and pushing others to do the same.”

02/25/2023

We love our community partners and furry friends at Retrieving Freedom, Inc.!

Thank you for donating a coffee machine for our new student coffee bar project. Your first cup of ☕️ is on us, John Drach and Hannah Keller!

Central Rivers Area Education Agency River Hills School

02/16/2023

We are so fortunate to be connected to an agency that goes above and beyond to support our students!

Thank you to our Empowered: Student-driven employment for ALL students for designing and printing custom t-shirts for our Team Reps! “Knowing that we were supporting students in an authentic learning experience was gratifying! They were easy to work with and responsive when we wanted changes made to our design. We would highly recommend Empowered and will use them again,” said Rusti Sparks, Central Rivers AEA Special Education Consultant.

Empowered is a student-driven, authentic, work-based learning project that provides our students with opportunities to grow their employability skills and Universal Constructs, (critical thinking, communication, creativity, collaboration, flexibility, adaptability, productivity and accountability skills) while in attendance at one of our special programs including youth shelter classrooms (Woodhaven, Four Oaks & Francis Lauer Youth Shelter), detention center classrooms (North Iowa Juvenile Detention Services & Central Iowa Juvenile Detention Center) and River Hills School. This Central Rivers AEA initiative provides students with authentic learning experiences through community partnerships.

Contact Empowered today to help design and print your group’s next custom t-shirts! Browse our online store or make a donation today! http://bit.ly/3Yjzx2u.