Art in Bloom MN partners with Kaleidoscope Place

Bloom Portraits, Art in Bloom, MN branch, is excited to announce our  partnership with Kaleidoscope Place this quarter.  Kaleidoscope Place services children Kindergarten-8th grade who attend Minneapolis Public Schools and live primarily in the Phillips neighborhood. Founded in 1971 by Messiah and Our Saviour’s Lutheran Churches, Kaleidoscope Place offers organized after school programing that allows children to receive homework help and additional academic skill instruction as well as to participate in meaningful relational and  recreational activities. In keeping with their mission:

To provide a creative, educational and nurturing environment for children to learn and grow in character and community for success in a changing world”,

staff at Kaleidoscope Place prefer to take a wholistic approach with their students. Focusing on both their academic and social success, teachers strive to provide the necessary ingredients to help their students reach their full potential.  Currently kindergarten and first grade students are learning to manage finances through participation in their classroom “city”, an imaginative play exercise where students create their own store that provides a good or service to their fellow classmates. Students exchange money in order to purchase the goods they need to survive as well as to  help their mini economy prosper. This activity also has the added benefit of helping students to learn valuable social skills as they practice cooperating with each other to reach a common goal.

Upon my recent visit to Kaleidoscope Place, Program Coordinator, Luke Paquin, was kind enough to give me a tour of Kaleidoscope’s beautiful, well kept space. Classrooms were clean and organized and seemed poised and ready to welcome the 40 some students that would be arriving later that day. Students weren’t far from their teachers minds as staff members exchanged funny stories of successes and challenges from recent weeks while preparing for their day.   It wasn’t difficult to understand why so many children love coming to Kaleidoscope Place and we at Bloom Portraits, Art in Bloom can’t wait to dive in and join in the fun!