Yeye’s Culture Academy

17/06/2026

Schools, libraries, camps, community organizations, youth programs, or family-serving agencies :Have an open spot in your summer programs????

As a Virginia Commission for the Arts Teaching Artist, I am currently seeking partners interested in hosting a 4–8 week Calabash Arts Residency through the Arts in Practice Grant Program.

✨ Residency Options Include:

📖 Calabash Village (Elementary)
Storytelling • Folk Tales • Theater • Movement • Cultural Arts

📝 Writes of Passage (Middle School)
Identity • Creative Writing • Self-Expression • Leadership

🎤 Voices from the River (Middle & High School)
Spoken Word • Debate • Storytelling • Multimedia Arts • Youth Advocacy

🌍 Customized Arts-Integrated Residencies
Designed to support literacy, youth development, cultural engagement, and organizational goals.

Programs may be offered as:

✔️ 4-Week Residencies
✔️ 6-Week Residencies
✔️ 8-Week Residencies
✔️ Summer Intensives
✔️ Community Showcases & Celebrations

Organizations partner with the teaching artist and submit an Arts in Practice grant application to help support residency costs

📩 Message me to schedule a 15–20 minute conversation to talk more!!!!!

15/06/2026

End of Year Residency Flashback !!

✨ Thank You, Sandston Elementary! ✨

What an incredible time we had during our residency at Sandston Elementary! 💛

From bringing stories to life with Letters from Alphabet Land to celebrating literacy through our joyful Alphabet Parade, every moment was filled with creativity, learning, and laughter.

We are grateful for the opportunity to share the power of storytelling, culture, and creativity with school communities. The joy, curiosity, and energy of your scholars made this residency unforgettable!

06/06/2026

06/06/2026

🖤 AP Scholar Spotlight 🖤

At Yeye's Culture Academy, scholarship is more than academics—it's legacy work.

Our AP Scholar Drew, a sophomore from New Jersey, explored how tracing the genealogy of Black youth can counter the lasting impacts of enslavement and systemic racism.

Her research revealed that genealogy can:
✨ Renew identity
✨ Honor our ancestors
✨ Support generational healing
✨ Help rewrite narratives for the future

When youth are disconnected from their lineage, it can impact wealth-building, cultural identity, and collective healing.

Our AP Scholars aren't just learning history—they're reclaiming ourstory.

🖤 Scholarship with purpose.
🖤 Identity in action.
🖤 Legacy in motion.

Interested in AP, STEM, College & Career Prep, or culturally grounded learning?

📅 Join our Summer Virtual Open House
🗓 June 27 | 10 AM

20/05/2026

Started a new residency at a middle school last week and it was amazing!!!

From middle school through high school, many educators have noticed a growing reluctance among young people to work collaboratively. More and more students prefer to work independently, often struggling with communication, trust, teamwork, and collective problem-solving. The teacher I partnered with wanted her students to better understand the importance of community, connection, and learning how to work together.

To help students reconnect with those ideas, I took them back to the concept of the village — and back to the streets of New York, where I first experienced what community truly looked and felt like through shared play, hand games, collective learning, and neighborhood connection.

Hand games became more than play — they became a way to teach rhythm, teamwork, communication, memory, leadership, and cultural connection rooted in traditions across the African diaspora.

18/05/2026

Our Seniors have been affirmed. Now. It's time to honor the entire village !!!

In the spirit of Aṣeyọrí (Success/Victory--from alignment), we recognize that true success is not only about reaching goals, but about becoming whole, empowered, and impactful along the journey. 💛

To our families, educators, and community — thank you for pouring into our scholars and helping cultivate environments where they can thrive.

And to our scholars:
🌟 Keep shining
🌟 Keep learning
🌟 Keep leading
🌟 Keep becoming

Congratulations to all of our honorees! We can't wait to celebrate you.

18/05/2026

🖤💛💙 “If you can walk, you can dance; if you can talk, you can sing.” — Zimbabwe Proverb

This proverb is a reminder that creativity is not reserved for a “gifted few.”

It already lives inside us.

In many African traditions, dance and song were never about perfection or performance.
They were about participation.
Expression.
Connection.
Joy.

You didn’t have to earn the right to create.

You simply joined in.

✨ If you could walk, you could dance.
✨ If you could speak, you could sing.

What a powerful lesson for our children—especially in homeschool and co-op spaces where we have the freedom to nurture the whole child.

Not just academically…
but creatively, emotionally, culturally, and spiritually too.

💛 For Our Learning Communities

Sometimes children hold back because they think:

they’re not “good enough”

not talented enough

not confident enough

But this proverb teaches something different:

👉🏾 Creativity begins with willingness, not perfection.

Every child deserves spaces where they can: 🖤 Move freely
💛 Use their voice
💙 Explore creativity without fear of comparison

Because art, music, storytelling, rhythm, and movement are part of how we learn, heal, and connect.

15/05/2026

Always ready at go time!!!!! Thank you Wolf Trap and Westview Pre-school for having at your Al's Pals celebration event!!!!!

07/05/2026

Congratulations to all of our Yeye's Academy A.P. Afrikan American studies testers !!!!So grateful ,at least, two sets of our homeschoolers got to test in pairs/ groups.

We are soooo proud of you all. Yeye's Culture Academy scholar on the homeschool to collegiate/ career pipeline hard!!!

One more set of testing to go. Go Eluvated scholars!!!!

04/05/2026

“𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵.” — 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗯
𝗟𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀. 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝘀…
🖤𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁
💛𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱
💙 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆

In diasporic traditions, skill was never developed in isolation.
It lived in the village.

You learned by:
Watching
Practicing
Being corrected
Trying again—together

And that’s exactly what homeschool co-ops and learning collectives can become:
✨ Spaces where children grow through collaboration
✨ Spaces where strengths are shared, not compared
✨ Spaces where every child is both a learner and a teacher

💛 For Our Homeschool Communities

When we gather, we’re not just covering content, we are:
🖤 Building confidence through practice
💛 Passing down knowledge through connection
💙 Creating environments where skill can take root and grow

Because one child may struggle in isolation, but thrive when learning alongside others.

✨ Community Reflection
Ask your co-op or group:
👉🏾 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸?
👉🏾 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳—𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳?

This is the power of collective learning.

Because in the long run— strength may stand alone… but skill grows in community. 🌿