Elementary School Educators Diamond Malone and Sylvia Denice go beyond the classroom in educating children with Renaissance Kids, Inc.

Ms. Denice recently described their endeavor.

"We are a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization that started in May of 2017. We have a cohort of five Renaissance Kids who started with us in October. The Renaissance Kids and their families participate in activities to support their social, emotional, academic, and cultural well-being through our programming. I am the vice chairman and my colleague, Diamond Malone, who is also a teacher, co-founded Renaissance Kids, Inc. together. We are not affiliated with the Crooked Creek Elementary School where our members come from. We do not yet have a facility, but are hosted by Crooked Creek Elementary School on Michigan and Kessler here in Indianapolis," she explained.

"We are teachers who own and run a nonprofit organization facilitating activities encouraging Indianapolis children to reach their fullest potential. The events happen after school hours and on the weekends. It is open to all Indianapolis kids, but acceptance into the program involves an application and interview process. Our ultimate goal is to have a rolling application process with periodic interview dates for acceptance of new families into the program," she added.

Ms. Denice explained how they decided to start Renaissance Kids Inc. "Diamond felt there were resources lacking where she couldn't meet the needs of students during the school day during her first year of teaching. We met when we got placed on the same team of teachers instructing fourth graders. She thought I would be a good fit for this program. There was a project she was working on in graduate school during one part of spring break last year as we spent time putting the program together. We are both from Indiana. I am from Fort Wayne and went to Marion College Indianapolis and ending up teaching after I graduated."

She reflected on the rewards of teaching. "I would say that the most rewarding thing about teaching is that I get to keep learning from the kids I educate. They teach me more than what I teach them."

Enrollment information is available at: www.renkidsindy.org/apply. "There is a yearly donation fee of $50.00 for one child, $75.00 for two children, $100 for three children, or $125 for four or more children requested when entering the program. This donation is used to purchase supplies, snacks/meals, play equipment, games, fund program activities, etc. The fee is due at the time of agreement to participate in Renaissance Kids, Inc. We never want finances to be a deterrent for a family who we feel is a good fit for the program; so, if there are any barriers there, families donate their time to the organization in place of the fee," she described.

Ms. Denice mentioned some of their recent activities. "We have launched our eXposure programming, which includes monthly field trips for our Renaissance Kids. So far, they have participated in seeing a musical production at North Central High School and visiting Lights at the Brickyard in Speedway. We have also launched Family Time, which encourages our Renaissance Families to participate in activities with all members of their family units. They have participated in a Family Math Night and a family bowling event, and we will be having a family photo session this month. Our next undertaking is our mentoring program, where each Renaissance Kid will be paired with a mentor, a professional in the Indianapolis community."