David Grosso at the DC SCORES Our Words Our City poetry showcase on February 6, 2020. Photo by Cody Cervenka.

WASHINGTON, DC – DC SCORES, an award-winning youth development nonprofit that provides free afterschool programs and summer camps for 3,000+ DC kids at Title I schools and at recreation centers in neighborhoods characterized by entrenched poverty, announced today that David Grosso, former DC Councilmember and now Partner at Arent Fox, has joined its Board of Directors.

The end of another year is a natural time for reflection. For many of us, this time is an opportunity to ruminate about all the standout moments that make the ending year one to not forget.

No matter what, 2020 will always be remembered as a very difficult time for everyone. A year where everyone had to adapt to the arduous circumstances that affected us all and kept us physically apart when all we really needed was to be together.

Despite all the hardships felt this year, DC SCORES has never stopped serving kids in DC. With that mission in mind, this year gave us the opportunity to be creative and work with our partners and supporters like never before to keep kids feeling safe, supported, connected, and hopeful.

Yanina Chicas performing at the 2018 Our Words Our City Showcase

Yanina Chicas may only be 16, but the depth of her poetry extends well beyond her years. This charming, dimple faced young woman who radiates positivity, is definitely not afraid to talk about what really matters to her.

The need this Giving Tuesday to keep kids connected is unlike ever before. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, kids remain at home and physically distant from their teammates, coaches, and school community.

The 26th season of fall SCORES will undoubtedly be unlike any other fall season before, but as the seasons change and everyone continues to stay home due to COVID-19, our goal to keep kids feeling safe, supported, connected, and hopeful remains the same. We continue to celebrate kids.

If anyone has ever wondered why the combination of soccer, poetry, and service-learning is possible for DC SCORES – the answer is our coaches.

The special sauce is the teacher-coach model that makes poet-athletes feel safe and offers teachers another outlet to build relationships with their students. A perfect example of this model in action is visible at Aiton Elementary School.

At DC SCORES we teach poet-athletes resilience and how to adapt to change. This spring, those lessons took on special meaning, as DC SCORES took on the challenge presented by COVID-19.

Although the Spring SCORES season officially kicked off in early March as usual, by mid-March our team was working remotely, schools began to close, and it was clear that this would be a season unlike any other. Determined to make sure that poet-athletes felt safe, secure, hopeful and connected to their teams despite schools being physically closed, we quickly adapted both programming and work into fully virtual experiences.

Today (May 5th) is Giving Tuesday Now, a new global day of giving in response to COVID-19.

DC SCORES needs your help. We’re a team and together we will get through these difficult times. We want to make sure that as soon as it is safe, we’re ready to keep providing every poet-athlete with a safe space so they can succeed on the playing field, in the classroom, and in life.

National Women’s Soccer League club the Washington Spirit, and non-profit DC SCORES, today announced a multi-year deal making DC SCORES an official community partner of the Washington Spirit.

So here’s a challenge for your mind: write and record your own “My Community” poem.

Here’s how it works:

1. Download the poem
2. Write the poem using the prompts
3. Film yourself reading it and challenge two friends to do the same
4. Post it to your social media, tagging the two friends you challenge, tagging us (@DCSCORES) and using the hashtag #AtHomePoetryChallenge

DC SCORES staff and Board of Directors are continually monitoring the developments surrounding COVID-19, as well as the most up-to-date procedures, practices, and guidance put forth by local, national, and international authorities. With that information top of mind, we are confidently moving forward with DC SCORES Spring Program Season. Should circumstances change or new information become available, we will adapt spring programming as appropriate to protect the health and safety of the entire SCORES family and our extended community. In the meantime, per the advice of health experts, we are encouraging all coaches and poet-athletes to take part in the day-in and day-out practicalities of staying healthy, including regular hand washing, covering coughs and sneezes, and staying home if they are ill.

Today marks the start of another Spring SCORES season for our elementary school poet-athletes! For the next 12 weeks, thousands of kids in DC will retake the soccer field for practices and gamedays, while also spending time in the classroom to design and execute service-learning projects.

Savannah from KIPP DC KEY Academy – Photo by Cody Cervenka

2020 Our Words Our City Photo Album

Studio Theatre once again opened its doors for another edition of Our Words Our City on Thursday, February 6, 2020. The sixth edition of this black box theater poetry showcase had a special aura to it as DC SCORES continues celebrating its 25th anniversary.