SCORES Thermometer's Rising

The SCORES thermometer's mercury is rising with the temperatures in Seattle. The latest update shows us at almost 50% of the way to our goal. We thank all of you who have donated so far, but we ask those who haven't to give any amount to our students.

With the end of the year approaching, we know many out there are reviewing their charitable donations for the year. Please consider a gift to SCORES and, more importantly, the poet-athletes from six high-need elementary schools.

Your donation allows them to get out on a soccer field or stay in the classroom after school. It also helps them earn pride through their community service and develop confidence in expressing themselves through writing and speaking coaching. The donation starts as a gift, but ends up changing lives with SCORES.

Here is a story about the impact of SCORES from Coach Blair at Dunlap Elementary:

"I was sitting next to a quiet boy named Andrew during the poetry slam. Andrew is in 4th grade. During the photo highlights he whispered in my ear “I hope there is a picture of me.” Towards the end of the video there Andrew was big as day on the big screen. He had just earned a gold card at the game. I looked over at Andrew and saw tears in his eyes. It made me realize that we forget sometimes what an impact Scores has on the kids and how important a uniform or a simple picture is to them."

Thanks for the donations so far, but lets keep the thermometer moving up!

Healthy Tips for Eating Right

This is a link we found while learning what makes a meal healthy for kids. These are just five tips to getting kids into eating right and hopefully liking it. The article highlights the importance of making family meals a part of every day, if possible. It also says that parents cannot tell their children to eat well, but not have healthy habits themselves. It's an example showing that "do as I say, not as I do," doesn't work. The article also wants parents to have healthy snacks easily available to kids. Check out the article to find the other ways to keep your kids eating right. They may end up happier and healthier because of it!

Here is the link.

Be in the Know

Here are some interesting articles we found while perusing through the news today and the past week. We are striving to become a resource for our readers.We want to inform everyone of the issues SCORES cares about. Here are some articles dealing with Seattle schools, books, education, athletes and where they intersect. We'll try to hit these issues on regular basis and also try to expand to include nutrition, healthy lifestyles and maybe throw in some recipes too. We'll see where the news of the day can take us.

Seattle School Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson Donating her Bonus -Seattle Times- Dec. 10, 2009

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010472506_webbonus10m.html

“Elliot Bay Books Store Moving to Capitol Hill” -Seattle Times- Dec.9, 2009

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2010467342_elliottbay10.html

Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow and others doing well on and off the field-New York Times -Dec. 8^th, 2009

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/sports/ncaafootball/09vecsey.html?_r=1&ref=education

"Ianni's life is changed, but not his hometown" -Lodi News Sentinel- December 10, 2009

http://www.lodinews.com/articles/2009/12/10/sports/1_ianni_camp_091210.txt

Pledge Drive Update

So far we are gaining momentum and the thermometer is rising. We are hovering around $8,000 so far. While this is a strong response, we still have a ways to go before reaching our goal. The money we'll raise this holiday season will help transform the lives of our poet-athletes. You can change a child's after school activity from watching TV to playing soccer and receiving writing coaching. They'll have the opportunity to visit Seattle University and get a taste of college life while receiving soccer training. This helps make them realize college is for everyone, not just everyone else. These life changing experiences all start with a donation to SCORES this holiday season.

Keep checking back to watch the thermometer rise and the possibilities for change with it.

New SCORES PSA

Here is a new America SCORES Seattle public service announcement. It features Kasey Keller with a couple of our very own SCORES poet-athletes from Dunlap Elementary.

Taylor Graham wins Humanitarian Award

Sounders FC's defense man Taylor Graham won the team's Humanitarian Award for his charitable work. He has been especially active with America SCORES Seattle this season.

Taylor has been unable to play for much of the season due to some foot injuries. So instead of being inactive with his time off, he has been very active in charities like ours.

Taylor has been a huge asset to SCORES this season. He made it to our Fall Frenzy soccer event in September. Taylor walked around talked to all poet-athletes, having pictures taken and really making the students day.

You could see the kids smiles grow when he approached each team. However, some teams made him prove he actually played for the Sounders. He had to list off most of the team's roster before they would believe him. Once he did though, the smiles grew larger and larger as the kids believed they were in the presence of a professional athlete. He really helped make the afternoon special for the kids.

Taylor also came to our Poetry Slam! last month. He was one of the judges. The kids lit up again when they saw him walking through the auditorium. But the students surprised Taylor at the event when the Dunlap boys dropped his name in their poem. Taylor's smile was as big as the kids! It was a great night of the kids poetry and another example of him, just by being there, making others feel special.

The SCORES staff wants to thank Taylor for all his efforts with our organization this year. Also, congratulations on a well deserved award.

Here's a link to the article.

Holiday Pledge Drive

The combination of funding cuts and an increased need for programming means that SCORES currently can’t meet the needs of our community.

Thanks to your past support, America SCORES Seattle has been able to provide programs that empower children in Seattle’s high-needs elementary schools to realize their unique potential through writing, soccer and community service.

To meet the challenges that our organization is currently facing, our goal is to raise $30,000 by December 31^st.

Here’s how your contribution can impact our young, poet-athletes…

$5800 -- Provide certificated teachers to coach a SCORES soccer or writing team
$3000 -- Fund safe transportation to and from SCORES program
$1000 -- Sponsor a soccer & community service celebration or Poetry Slam
$800 -- Provide a healthy after school snack for a team of hungry poet-athletes
$350 -- Sponsor a SCORES Game Day
$150 -- Fund a SCORES team’s community service project
$32 -- Provide a SCORES team with writing journals
$____ -- Any amount is appreciated

Thank you very much! Your contribution will keep our program viable for hundreds of Seattle children and continue to enrich the lives of our community’s most vulnerable.

Please donate today.

Best wishes for happy, healthy holiday season.

Great Pub Event Last Thursday

We raised over $3,500 at last Thursday's pub event! We had tons of players show up: Fredy Montero, Taylor Graham, Seth Stammler and Kevin Goldthwaite. There were many supporters who came and generously bid on silent auction items and bought prize tickets.
Many of our SCORES coaches came and had a chance for a night out on us. It was the least we could do after a season of hard work with the poet-athletes this fall. We hope to see you all next season.
The staff would like to thank Soudners FC, adidas and MLS W.O.R.K.S. for their prize donations, without these the night couldn't have gone as well.
Thank you to all the silent auction bidders and congratulations to all the prize drawing winners.

Pictures from Poetry Slam!!

They're here!! Pictures from poetry slam. These were taken by SCORES' very own Heather Christianson, a professional photographer before joining America SCORES Seattle.

The Dunlap boys used a saxophone and a clarinet to help emphasize their poetry.




The Maple girls were rhyming their way through this poem:

Brain
By Maya B, Grade 4

My brain is stuffed with knowledge
That’s why I hope to go to college
My brain controls everything
It helps me see spring
It’s a good thing there is stuff to protect my brain
Or else I would be INSANE
My brain some times gets in pain
My brain is so great It will often procrastinate.
My brain is so smart
If it wasn’t I would fall apart

The Gatzert girls working together to really shout out their team poem!

There are more photos of the evening on our Facebook profile.

Merchandise Changes for Pub Event

As with any work in progress, things change. Our event changed a little too. We are still going to be at FOX Sports Grill at 6 p.m. We are still expecting many players to make appearances from both the Sounders FC and from around the MLS.

But the changes are as follows:
- We're adding a 2009 MLS All-Star Team jersey signed by the entire team

- We're adding another signed Sounders FC jersey

-Thanks to adidas

SCORES MLS Cup Pub Event

America SCORES Seattle is having an MLS Cup Pub Event!

There will be MLS Players from around the league in Seattle for the MLS Cup at our event, not to mention some local Sounders FC favorites.

We’ll have a $5 suggested donation at the door which also buys one ticket for our prize drawing, or 5 tickets for $20.

We're having a drawing and a silent auction with items donated from MLS W.O.R.K.S., adidas and the Sounders FC.

The drawing and auction items are:

A signed 2009 MLS All-Star Team ball

A 2009 All-Star jersey autographed by the game’s MVP, goalkeeper Tim Howard of Everton FC

A trip for two to the 2010 MLS All-Star Game in Houston

Another trip for two to watch a 2010 Sounders game vs. the Philadelphia Union (Date TBD, game tickets, flights and accommodations included)

One autographed jersey from both of the MLS cup teams, LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake, each signed by the entire team

An autographed Sounders ball and jersey

Two tickets to the March 25th Sounders FC’s 2010 season opener

Please bring any guests you feel would be interested.

See you there!

Poetry Slam Was a Blast

The SCORES staff wants to thank everyone involved with making Friday night special! The evening was filled with young poet-athletes slamming their season's work, the nearly 500-person auditorium was almost filled to capacity with students and their families and community members watching the poets perform. It was great to see so many people supporting the poet-athletes.

We all want to thank our judges: Mike Hickey, Taylor Graham, Karen Finneyfrock, Steve Kelley and all the other judges who made the evening happen. Also, a big thanks to the A/V volunteer Derek Sheen for his expertise.

CONGRATULATIONS to our poet-athletes on a job well done! All the staff is proud to have helped put this together. Thank you all for putting your heart and your thoughts into the poetry and performance.

We all can't wait to see you in the spring.

Poetry Slam Today!!

I hope everyone out there is ready to see the poets strut their stuff tonight at Cleveland High School!! All the poets have been practicing their poems in front of fellow students and now they are ready to show off to their families and community.

The night will begin with a slide show of fall season's highlights and move into a heart warming welcome by our Executive Director. Our MC for the evening will take over and lead the SCORES cheer! Then the real action begins. We will have Maple, Emerson and Dunlap boys and girls lead off in turn. After this we have the great honor of 2009 Poet Populist Mike Hickey performing a poem on stage. As he finishes, we'll move onto the Gatzert, Highland Park and Roxhill Elementary.

The night will continue with our guest judges critiquing our poet-athletes' performances. Our lengthy list of judges include the Sounders FC's own Taylor Graham, who has been supporting SCORES all season. The previously mentioned Poet Populist Mike Hickey, and Seattle Times sports columnist Steve Kelley. In addition we'll have the Writer in Residence at The Hugo House, Karen Finneyfrock and two principals have volunteered too.

To add a little more excitement to tonight, we're going to have a prize drawing for an autographed Fredy Montero soccer ball. The tickets will be $1 and all the proceeds will go to America SCORES Seattle.

It will be a great evening with the poet-athletes and the community. Please make it over to Cleveland High School and help make this evening a great success.

Poetry Slam is One Day Away!!

Everyone here at the office is getting excited for tomorrow night's Poetry Slam! It should be an evening of words, wisdom and poetry. All six of our schools will be at Cleveland High School in Seattle reading their poems. All the schools have already done dressed rehearsals. Some schools have put together music to go along with their readings and others have group performances acting out their poems. It will be great!


The 2009 Seattle Poet Populist, Mike Hickey, will be a reading a poem and critiquing one school's performance. We will also have Sounders FC player Taylor Graham and Seattle Time's sports columnist Steve Kelley as judges too.

The event will also feature a prize drawing as guests enter the auditorium. We will be drawing for an autographed Sounders soccer ball. All proceeds will go to America SCORES Seattle.

Cleveland High School Auditorium

5511 15th Avenue South

Seattle, WA 98108

The event beigns at 5 p.m.

Last Game Day of the Fall Season

The SCORES staff wants to make sure everyone knows that this Friday's game day is the last of the fall session. There will be some great poetry slamming and soccer for everyone to watch. Make it out to the game sites if you can. At the previous Game Day there was strong support from parents, grandparents and community members, let's see it again.

The schedule for Friday goes as follows:

Dunlap is at Roxhill

Bailey Gatzert is at Highland Park

Maple is at Emerson

After the game day the poet-athletes will be practicing their poems for the big Poetry Slam! on Nov. 13 at Cleveland High School. From what the staff has seen so far, everyone in the audience is going to have an inspiring evening with a season wrap-up picture show, poet-athletes showing off what they've learned this season and a special appearance by Seattle's 2009 Poet Populist Mike Hickey. He'll also read a poem.

Roxhill Students Using Soccer in the Classroom

Our SCORES school, Roxhill Elementary, is using the world's game in the classroom for its' 2010 CARES Cup program. This program breaks students into 28 teams and each group adopts one of the 28 World Cup qualifying countries. The students and a staff team leader will follow the soccer team's progress in the tournament while also learning more about the countries' culture and environmental issues there. All the hard work culminates in an end of the year all-school celebration showing what the students have learned. Great use of soccer inside the classroom! Here's a link to the copy of the School Beat from Seattle Public Schools.

Tickets Sold Out!

Thanks to everyone who purchased our Sounders Tickets and supported SCORES. Have a great time at the game!!

Sounders Tickets $50 now!

Looking for Sounders playoff tickets? The Seattle Sounders FC have generously donated QWEST Field Suite tickets to America SCORES Seattle for the Western Conference Semifinal vs. the Houston Dynamo. They are $50 and all proceeds help support 192 poet-athletes participate in a five-day-a-week literacy and soccer after school program. We will also give you a FREE parking pass for tomorrow's gameday, if you are one of the first 5 buyers. So call and buy a ticket and cheer on the Sounders FC in their pursuit of the MLS Cup! To Donate call our office at 206-988-1000 or email ckelley@americascores.org

SCORES Playoff Tickets

Still don’t have playoff tickets? The Seattle Sounders FC have generously donated 18 QWEST Field Suite tickets to America SCORES Seattle for the Western Conference Semifinal vs. the Houston Dynamo.

With a donation of $100 or more you can help support... 192 poet-athletes participate in a five-day-a-week literacy and soccer after school program and cheer on the Sounders FC in their pursuit of the MLS Cup!

To Donate call our office at 206-988-1000 or email ckelley@americascores.org.

Match InformationHouston Dynamo at Seattle Sounders FCOctober 29, 2009 at 7 pm PDT (ESPN2)Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field Seattle, Wash.

A suite at Qwest Field is the ultimate setting to experience the best action in MLS. With perfect views of the field, our Suites offer an impressive setting to entertain your guests. Your suite is complete with cutting edge technology, luxurious furnishings, fabulous amenities, and first class service. Your suite also comes with complimentary exclusive club level access. We invite you to secure a suite today to see Seattle's newest professional sports team! Be there as world greats David Beckham, Landon Donovan, Luciano Emilio, Juan Pablo Angel and Cuauhtemoc Blanco make their Qwest Field debuts.

Game Day 2 Pictures

Here are some pictures of Friday's Game Day 2. There were lots of poems slammed at all the schools. Here is one of the poems a young Emerson Elementary poet-athlete read:

Mass in the Grass
by Abdimajid of Emerson Elementary

I saw a mass in the grass, so...
I ran so fast. I'm never last.
I jumped over some broken glass.
I even ran past my class.
I grasped my old mask
And I saw someone with a rash.
I scared them it was a blast!

Highland Park Elementary girls slamming before their game

Game Day Round 2

Today is Game Day 2 and the excitement is here. Many of the staff went to SCORES schools yesterday and the kids were choosing their poems to slam before the games. The poems ranged from personal poems about their own struggles in life to more silly fun poems about the trials of trying to eat a door like spaghetti. You heard that right, eating a door like spaghetti. It's fun to hear their imaginations run wild at SCORES every afternoon. The kids will slam before the games and then it's soccer time. So if there is some extra time today make sure and stop by a SCORES school for the games.

The schedule is as follows:

Maple is at Dunlap

Roxhill is at Gatzert

Emerson is at Highland Park

Game Day was Great Day in the Rain

The game days were a blast on Friday. The weather didn’t hold any of the kid’s spirits or smiles back. The games kept all the players warm, and I even heard one say they were sweating. Before the games we heard great poems about soccer, food and friends. Afterwards a few players received Gold Cards for their exemplary displays of leadership, sportsmanship and teamwork. Go Gold Card winners! When all was said and done, I think the kids were just as happy to be playing soccer as to getting their snacks afterwards. Thanks team coordinators.

Also, we caught this photo of a girl wearing her new scarf. Thanks Sounders!

SCORES-Sounders Pub Event

Everyone on the SCORES staff wants to send a thank you to the Sounders Coach Sigi, Chris Henderson, the George and Dragon for hosting the event and everyone who came out to support SCORES! Thanks!

The pub event on Wednesday was a resounding success. We saw a great game with a stoppage-time header to tie the game for Team USA. There was a heartfelt tribute to Charlie Davies, the Team USA forward who was involved in a car accident. Lastly, we had an insightful discussion with Sounders Coach Sigi and Technical Director Chris Henderson.

With all this great action going on we also raised over $1,000 for SCORES programs!

We'll let everyone know about next month's Scores-Sounders Pub Event when the date is finalized.

Game Day #1 Today!

Today is the first Game Day for the poet-athletes. The players will be busing around to different schools today playing their fellow SCORES athletes. All the games are beginning at 4 p.m. with a warm-up Poetry Slam! to get everything started. Festivities will be over around 5 p.m.

The schedule is as follows:

Dunlap is at Emerson Elementary
Highland Park is at Roxhill Elementary
Maple is at Bailey-Gatzert Elementary

Come and support the poet-athletes at schools around the Seattle area. See you there!

Sounders & SCORES Pub Event

Sounders FC & SCORES will host a pub event this Wednesday with coach Sigi Schmid, Technical Director Chris Hendersen and a surprise special guest.

We'll be at The George & Dragon Pub this Wednesday in Fremont from 5 to 8 p.m. watching men's team USA vs. Costa Rica. There will be a Q & A session with Sounders personnel.

There will be a prize drawing for an autographed Freddie Ljundberg soccer ball or a pair of 2010 Sounders FC tickets.

You will also be able to enter a silent auction for a signed Fredy Montero jersey.

The U.S. Open Cup will be on display for everyone to come and see!

There is a $5 suggested donation to America SCORES Seattle at the door.

Kids idolize athletes for the performance, but there is more to many

An article in the New York Times from four days ago made an insightful point about N.B.A. players and athletes in general, there's more to them than athleticism. The article followed the efforts of three N.B.A. players, but alluded to the growing number of players who are trying to complete, or begin college degree programs.
The article tells the story that despite the large amounts of money many make, their future isn't always stable. There can be accidents or injuries prematurely ending a player's career. An education gives them a more secure future no matter how their athletic career ends.
It seems, for some, there are reasons beyond financial security motivating players to get their degrees. Some players want to be good role models for siblings, some are doing it for their parents and others want to be the first in their families to get a college degree. The reasons don't matter for attaining a degree, but getting it does.
The normal stories about athletes seem to be about their high-profile lifestyles and their off-the-court mishaps. It's good to hear some players are working in the off-season too, even without pay.
So, when kids look up to athletes for scoring 100 points in a basketball game, hitting 50 plus homers, or even scoring 20 or more goals in a soccer season, applaud the athlete. But remind the kids that athletes need more than on-the-field talents to succeed in life and an education is a big part of what's necessary.

Here's the article:

NYTIMES link

Be in the know: Seattle Schools Consider Lowering Grade Point Average for Graduation

While America SCORES Seattle works to empower young people in Seattle's Public Elementary Schools, we also have to be aware of the academic politics that will affect our students down the road. Currently, the Seattle School Board is considering a change to the grade point requirement for Graduating seniors. As it stands, a C average is required to graduate. Additionally, a C average has always been required to keep one's place on a sports team. This is up for debate as well, and would most likely be changed if the graduation requirement were to be revised.

One of the arguments for the change is that if a D is enough to pass a class it should also be enough to graduate, hopefully encouraging more students to stay in school rather than drop out. To counter concerns that this change will lower the students' level of motivation it has also been suggested that schools institute pluses and minuses, allowing for more opportunities to increase one's GPA. Furthermore, honors level students would see a slight upward scaling in their grades, so a B grade would equal a 3.5, and a B+ a 4.0.

On the opposing side, which vocalizes that changing the GPA and providing GPA incentives is not enough to "fix" the problems plaguing Seattle's public schools, school board member Peter Maier expressed his concern regarding the underlying problem: "One of the troubling aspects of the proposal is that it doesn't address the real issue, which is what we do with these struggling students who are bumping along at the GPA bottom."

To read more about this issue, check out this most recent article. Agree, or disagree? Want to be more involved? Write to the board at this address:
School Board Office
2445 Third Avenue South
Mail Stop: 11-010
PO BOX 34165
Seattle, WA 98124-1165

Or check their website to see their legislative session schedule and agenda.

SCORES Century Benefit Bike Ride

Last Sunday was our first SCORES Century Benefit Bike ride and it was a huge success. Our riders, only 7 of them, were able to raise between $4,000 and 5,000 dollars for America SCORES Seattle. The ride wrapped around Lake Washington, twice. It was 100 miles of fun and fundraising.

A special thanks to Jake Pedersen with the Seattle Athletic Club, the Seattle Athletic Club and our boardmemeber Spencer Jacobs for organizing the whole ride. Thanks to everyone of their sponsors who gave them a chance to raise money for our cause.

It's really inspiring to have passionate people truely "going the distance" for all the SCORES kids. Thanks.

Staff Site Visit Last Friday

The SCORES Staff went to Bailey-Gatzert on Friday to see the soccer scrimages and the kids at their home fields. It was a jumble of kids running, passing and scoring with cheers and screams to highlight every move. There was so much energy on Friday.

We also got a picture of the poetry the students are putting together. The poet-athletes put together an adjective list to increase their descriptive vocabulary.

So many adjectives, so little space to write. Everyone is excited for the poetry-slam in November.

Thanks for the Help

Everyone on the SCORES team wants to thank all of the parents, teachers, volunteers, Starfire Sports Complex staff for getting out to our Fall Frenzy 2009 celebration. All the games and festivities went smoothly and the sunny weather couldn't have been better.

It was great to see the parents on the sidelines cheering for their athletes, the volunteers teaching and running the playing fields with the kids, and the coaches keeping everyone motivated and in the game. If the SCORES team didn't have the participation of the community, the event wouldn't have been possible.

We want to give a special thanks to the Seattle Sounders for their generous gift of the Barcelona/Sounders scarves each of the poet-athletes received. Also to Taylor Graham for hanging out with the kids and his continuous support of the program.

We took a lot of pictures throughout the afternoon so please check them out at our Facebook fan page by clicking on the link to the right.

SCORES heard from President Obama

Exciting news for our poet-athletes who helped write a letter to President Obama based on his "Yes We Can" speech. He wrote back!

During the Spring our SCORES students split into small groups and filled in parts of the speech with their own ideas about the problems in their communities.

SCORES staff collected signatures and mailed the letters to local and national leaders, including the President.

Here is the picture and his response:

(Click on the image to read what the President wrote)

FALL FRENZY 2009

Remember to clear your calendars and pencil-in FALL FRENZY 2009 for this Friday. FALL FRENZY! is our annual soccer celebration kicking off the fall season. The games begin at 4 and end at 6:30 p.m. We are holding the event at the Starfire Sports Complex.

more photos from Sunday

Sounders Jhon Kennedy Hurtado and Taylor Graham posing for pictures with the U.S. Open Cup



Sounders Patrick Ianni and Evan Brown signing autographs



Sounders with America SCORES Seattle staff and Board Chair



Sounders with America SCORES Seattle staff and Board Chair

Thanks for the SCORES love on Sunday

Yesterday's event at the Sounders team store was a success. The America SCORES Seattle staff wants to send a big Thank You to everyone who showed up to receive Sounder FC autographs, entered the drawings for autographs and season tickets, and made donations to SCORES. We really appreciated seeing all the new faces.

We also want to send a special thanks to Pacific Place, the Sounders, and The Pro Shop at Pacific Place. Thanks for all the help and including SCORES in the event!

Also, remember to become a Facebook Fan of America SCORES Seattle.
Here's a link to the page: America SCORES Seattle Link.

SCORES Tweattle now on Twitter!

Follow our tweets to learn about all of our events, hear our reminders, and read some general musings from the America SCORES Seattle office! Here's the link:

http://twitter.com/SCORESSeattle

Sounders Sunday at Pacific Place Mall

Please join us this Sunday, September 20th, outside the Seahawk/Sounders FC Pro Shop on the 3rd floor of the Pacific Place Mall. The Seattle Sounders will be joining us from 12 pm to 2 pm, and will be signing autographs and taking photos! You also have the chance to win Sounders game tickets and/or be entered into a drawing to win Sounders season tickets. We'll be around from 11 am to 5 pm, and look forward to seeing you!

UPDATE:
We will be inside the Pro Shop.
The Player Appearances will be from 2 to 4.

Barnes & Noble Fundraiser

Just a side note, America SCORES Seattle has partnered with Barnes & Noble to raise funds. From September 16th to the 20th you can bring in this voucher number (10015550, show it during checkout) and a percent of the sale will go to our cause.

Although this is only in support of our Seattle chapter, every Barnes & Noble nationally is participating, so please let your friends and family members know, pass on the above number, and buy some books, coffees, and music (gift cards, memberships, and subscriptions are not included in this deal)!

Fall Frenzy Is Nearly Upon Us

Fall Frenzy! is approaching quickily and this celebration of our poet-athletes needs a little help to run smoothly. In other words, we need volunteers. We need help refereeing games and team assistants to make this event work. The Frenzy will be held on September 25 at the Starfire Sports Complex. Volunteers should plan on arriving at 2:30 to help set up and to stay until 6:30 to clean up.

Referees don't need to know all the ins-and-outs of soccer to participate, rather, with our adapted version of soccer, they just need to help everyone have fun and teach some of the basics.

Team assistants will be needed to help get the kids to the right field at the right time, ensure there is enough water for everyone and keep all the kids up and running.

If you would like to volunteer for with either position or in the future please contact Program Assistant Heather Christianson at hchristianson@americascores.org, or by phone at 206-988-1000.

SCORES donates used gear to kids in Ghana

America SCORES Seattle had an overflowing storage space of used soccer gear accumulated from past years of program. And this summer, we found a great home for it.

We've connected locally with two charities working with kids in Ghana. The first, called the Valued Girls Project, began as a way to help middle school-aged girls develop soccer skills to hopefully obtain scholarships to high school. In Ghana, school is free until our equivalent of high school. Many girls are forced to drop out of school and end up living on the streets or getting married at 14 or 15 and living the same disadvantaged lives of their mothers. High school is extremely pricey for families living on about $5 a day. The VGP has morphed into more than just soccer teams--it now offers computer literacy classes and soccer camps with math, reading and science classes. Now the project serves 100 kids ages 7 through 19 in much the same vein as SCORES--combining soccer and literacy training to give kids a well-rounded set of skills for life. There's also a boys team, which named themselves the SCORES of VGP after the SCORES logos on their jerseys!

Click on the image to read the letter to SCORES from the boys' coach:Interested in helping out the Valued Girls Project? Contact Linda Thompson, Director, Education Initiative for Africa at lpthoompson@thevillagenet.org or visit the VGP website.

SCORES Century Benefit Bike Ride

Join us for our first SCORES Century Benefit Bike Ride!

On Sunday, October 4, you and other riders will bike 100 miles around Lake Washington, starting and ending on Mercer Island! Proceeds benefit America SCORES Seattle. The ride begins at 8 a.m.

To sign up, or for more information, contact Jake Pedersen at the Seattle Athletic Club: 206-443-1111.

Sounders Game Tonight

Find our booth before the Sounders game tonight at the Soccer Celebration. Guess the number of jelly beans in the jar to win Sounders gear.

Also, a donation of $20 or more to America SCORES Seattle at our booth before the game will enter you into a drawing for 2010 Sounders FC season tickets.

SCORES Cup pushed back to spring!

Now you have more time to train and put your team together! Check back here in the spring for more information.

Got game? Bring it to the SCORES Cup Tournament 2009!

Do you and your colleagues have what it takes to dominate a 64-team field and advance all the way to the finals? There's only one way to find out. Enroll your team to play at Stocker Fields in Snohomish on September 12th - 13th. If you're good enough, you'll play in the finals on Saturday, September 19th at the home of your Seattle Sounders, Qwest Field.

Bring as many teams as you like from your company or organization. There's a $1,000.00 entry fee per team, with all proceeds supporting the mission of America SCORES Seattle.

Click here to learn more and to learn how to sign up!

New PSA to air at Chelsea game Saturday!

Goal keeper Kasey Keller films a PSA with two America SCORES Seattle poet-athletes yesterday.

Our new PSA, featuring Sounders FC goal keeper Kasey Keller and two of our poet-athletes, will debut at this Saturday's home game against Chelsea FC. It will also air on local TV stations.

Congratulations to Claudia and Hassaun from Dunlap Elementary for being chosen to represent Seattle's poet-athletes on camera. Thanks to Writing and Soccer Coach Will Depusoy for helping organize and chaperone, to Wexley advertising agency, Kasey Keller and the Seattle Sounders FC.

SCORES students receive letter from Seattle Mayor!

During our spring program, our poet-athletes worked together to write a letter based on Barrack Obama's "Yes We Can" speech. They split into small groups and filled in parts of the speech based on their own ideas about what problems plague our communities.

SCORES staff collected the students' signatures and mailed the letters to local and national leaders. Last week, we received an exciting response from Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels!

Click on the image to read what he had to say:

Kicks 4 Kids nets over $5,000

Thanks to everyone who attended Kicks 4 Kids on Saturday at Kell's. We raised over $5,000 for the poet-athletes at America SCORES Seattle!

Kicks 4 Kids event

Join us on Saturday, June 20th at 4PM to support America SCORES Seattle's 'Kicks 4 Kids' event!

We're gathering at Kell's Irish Restaurant & Pub to watch the Sounders take on the NY Red Bulls. You can enter to win a Freddie Ljungberg signed jersey, a Nate Jaqua autographed soccer ball, Sounders FC tickets, restaurant gift certificates, and much more!

Where: Kell's Irish Restaurant & Pub
Address: 1916 Post Alley, Seattle
When: 4pm-8pm on Saturday, June 20
Who: All you Sounders FC fans and SCORES supporters!

Sounders Celebrity Waiter Event: a fantastic success

Last night we had a very successful fundraising event with the amazing Seattle Sounders FC at the wonderful Metropolitan Grill.



The Met put together a delicious menu in honor of the evening, while team members from the Seattle Sounders FC wore specially embroidered chef coats and were out on the floor, helping with the dinner service, chatting with customers, and posing for pictures.



A very special thank you to Sounders FC players Sebastien Le Toux, Evan Brown, James Riley, Taylor Graham, Roger Levesque, and Zach Scott for being so friendly all night.



Also, a super special thank you to the Metropolitan Grill for being our amazing hosts for the evening!

And finally, a huge thank you to everyone who attended the event and donated to America SCORES Seattle. We raised $5,250 from the evening. We deeply appreciate your support.

Spring Program wraps up at Bow Lake Elementary

We’re settled into our new office in Seattle's SODO Neighborhood and thoroughly enjoying this incredible stretch of beautiful Seattle sunshine.

Our spring program wrapped up last Thursday with a fun afternoon of soccer in the sun at Bow Lake Elementary School. After signing their letter to President Obama, our poet-athletes hit the field for a lively soccer scrimmage:

















Photos courtesy of Heather Christianson

Check out more photos: Picasa album.

SCORES at the Seattle Sounders game

It was great to meet some new supporters at the Sounders game last weekend.
Thank you to the Seattle Sounders FC for all their support!

Last Saturday’s booth was all about scarves as our highly skilled volunteer artists airbrushed green Sounders scarves on game attendees at our booth, the perfect scarf for the warm game day weather:







Be sure to stop by our booth at future games: