Glenwood Core Experience Program

The staff at Glenwood uses the Core Experience funds to provide a chance for their students to be involved in educational and cultural events that they would not be able to experience on their own. These experiences open the minds of the students to see the world as a diverse place that has much to offer. Many of the kids do not know about the community outside of their own neighborhoods. When the kids begin to see the bigger world that they are a part of, it encourages them to set and achieve educational and behavioral goals. When they achieve those goals, they are rewarded with a chance to see and do more fun and exciting things.

The Core Experience events have created strong bonds between the teachers and the students who participate in the programs. It has also opened the door for mentoring opportunities for members of the Evansville Police Department and the Prosecutor's office. Students who have not been able to participate, or have been uninterested in the programs before, see those bonds and it impacts them as well. They find themselves trying to achieve their goals or take advantage of the programs when they have achieved them. They really want to be a part of something positive in a world that they feel is constant chaos and sometimes hopeless. Core Experience is THAT chance for them.

The ultimate experience for the kids was a trip to Walt Disney World last September. The kids who earned the right to go on the trip had to meet high behavioral expectations and see a 10% increase in their ISTEP scores. We quickly realized how much a trip like that can impact a kid. The kids that we spent our days with were changed when we got back.