When Ciudad Nueva brought a youth soccer league to the Rio Grande neighborhood last fall, only one thing was missing: a middle school division. Ciudad Nueva decided to limit the league to kindergarten through fifth grade during its inaugural year, but league director Bruce Meyer plans to expand the league to include teams for middle schoolers this fall. The league, which is part of the Upward Sports organization, was the vision of Ciudad Nueva’s executive director, Sami DiPasquale, who sees it as a way to further Ciudad Nueva’s mission of building community in the Rio Grande … [Read more...]
Two Teenagers Lead by Example and Make an Impact on Our Middle School Program
Ciudad Nueva relies on our amazing volunteers to keep our programs operating. Without people to do all the big and little tasks, we wouldn’t be able to continue the work we do, nor would we have the capacity to connect with our neighbors and mentor the students that come through our doors every day. This past year two sisters involved in our high school program became middle school volunteers. They really stepped up and made a difference with the students and had a positive influence on the other volunteers in the program as well. Anika and Aranxa have been part of Ciudad Nueva since they … [Read more...]
Lexi Taking Over as Middle School Coordinator
Lexi Moles looks forward to her new role as middle school coordinator starting this fall. Lexi Moles has been an integral part of the Ciudad Nueva family this year. She came to us in the fall as a Border Fellow working in an administrative role and also as a volunteer in our middle school program. You can read more about Lexi’s journey to El Paso here and the Border Fellows program here. With our current middle school coordinator, Simon, moving on to law school this fall, and Lexi coming to the end of her Border Fellows year, the passing of the baton from Simon to Lexi seemed like a great … [Read more...]
Art and the Environment: Middle School Students Create and Connect
The eight-week middle school creative class culminates in a third-place win for one of our creative middle school students. Ciudad Nueva’s middle school students are invited to participate in a creative class every Tuesday afternoon. The class changes about every eight weeks with many different topics explored including cooking, sports, technology, and any other great ideas we think the students would enjoy. Our current Border Fellow, Lexi Moles, is also a volunteer in the middle school program and was looking forward to her turn to teach an eight-week session of the Tuesday class focused … [Read more...]
