August Letter from the Founder

Dear Friends, Supporters, and Community Members,

When I founded the Moving Education Institute in 2020, it was with a simple yet powerful vision: to utilize movement, the arts, and community-based learning to support the intellectual, emotional, and creative development of young people.Rooted in Apalachicola, Florida, we launched our flagship initiative, CommunityMoving Education (CME), to create a space where children and teens could explore who they are, where they come from, and what they imagine for their futures — all through the transformative power of dance, writing, music, food growth/food justice, technology and the visual arts.

Today, I’m proud to say that CME has served over 150youth ages 6 to 19, and that number continues to grow each year. For six weeks every summer, our classrooms come alive with drumming, choreography, storytelling, mural painting, filmmaking, gardening, cooking, and joy. Each summer culminates in an original, multidisciplinary performance shaped by the voices and experiences of our participants — a testament to their brilliance and the power of community-based, culturally grounded arts education.

In our fifth year, we celebrate not just a milestone, but a movement. What began as a dream in a small coastal town has become a vital force in youth development, community engagement, and creative education. We've built partnerships with CareerSource, Near Futures, the NorthFlorida African American Corridor Project, and Florida State University PanamaCity’s ASCENT program. Through these collaborations, we’ve expanded our impact, offering stipended youth internships, building pathways to future careers, and grounding our work in local history, identity, and resilience.

Our updated website is both a celebration and an invitation. Whether you area parent, student, artist, educator, or supporter, I hope you will explore what we’ve built, see the stories and images that capture our journey, and consider h0w you might join us for the next chapter.

Thank you to everyone who has walked with us over the past five years, and to those just joining us, welcome to Moving Education.

With gratitude and movement,

‍
Frenchy Haynes
Founder & CEO
Moving Education Institute, Inc.