Kathleen Chosa, CalSERVES Staff
'Twas the week before holiday and at our school sites
AmeriCorps members were all busy,
Finishing their work for the night.
Literacy assessments were due,
So was after school attendance.
Tracking fifteen hundred students daily
Is a feat, quite stupendous.
In the very beginning
Project SCHOLARS tutoring was our game,
Then the next year came COOL After School
To add to our fame.
We started out simple,
Tim and Deb - the office crew,
With Julie as Director
And six AmeriCorps VISTAS,
Brand new.
We made a commitment
To teach struggling children to read;
With the motto "Making a Difference",
We were fulfilling a community need.
With one-on-one tutoring
or in a small group with KidzMath,
We help students build TRIBES
And follow an educational path.
There's Homework! And Reading!
Just so much to do!
Yea for COOL Sports! And Friday Clubs!
I love them - don't you?
There's Nutrition and Science,
Sometimes even Art;
Now don't forget Family Lit,
And that's just a start!
We've partnered with school districts,
Written grants to expand and keep going;
Ten years we've succeeded
And we hope to keep growing.
Mendocino and Napa
Regional Projects are great.
Now we're a Demonstration Program,
One of just nine in the state!
We host conferences and trainings,
Sit on a panel or two.
We're not stopping there,
There's still plenty to do.
Promise Fellows and Team Leaders,
Part of our two hundred super stars;
A staff of twenty-two to assist them,
They're sure to go far.
Then there's our AmeriCorps mentors,
Too many to name:
They're our real heroes,
Our claim to fame.
They come from all over our nation
With one goal in sight -
To give all that they have
To make one child's world bright.
In a world full of "me" they think mainly of others,
Serving our community well,
Treating all men as brothers.
They've done it with pride
And for very little pay.
They're doing it right,
The AmeriCorps way.
As a Team we look forward
To the New Year with delight.
Happy Holidays from CalSERVES
And to all a Good Night!
AmeriCorps members were all busy,
Finishing their work for the night.
Literacy assessments were due,
So was after school attendance.
Tracking fifteen hundred students daily
Is a feat, quite stupendous.
In the very beginning
Project SCHOLARS tutoring was our game,
Then the next year came COOL After School
To add to our fame.
We started out simple,
Tim and Deb - the office crew,
With Julie as Director
And six AmeriCorps VISTAS,
Brand new.
We made a commitment
To teach struggling children to read;
With the motto "Making a Difference",
We were fulfilling a community need.
With one-on-one tutoring
or in a small group with KidzMath,
We help students build TRIBES
And follow an educational path.
There's Homework! And Reading!
Just so much to do!
Yea for COOL Sports! And Friday Clubs!
I love them - don't you?
There's Nutrition and Science,
Sometimes even Art;
Now don't forget Family Lit,
And that's just a start!
We've partnered with school districts,
Written grants to expand and keep going;
Ten years we've succeeded
And we hope to keep growing.
Mendocino and Napa
Regional Projects are great.
Now we're a Demonstration Program,
One of just nine in the state!
We host conferences and trainings,
Sit on a panel or two.
We're not stopping there,
There's still plenty to do.
Promise Fellows and Team Leaders,
Part of our two hundred super stars;
A staff of twenty-two to assist them,
They're sure to go far.
Then there's our AmeriCorps mentors,
Too many to name:
They're our real heroes,
Our claim to fame.
They come from all over our nation
With one goal in sight -
To give all that they have
To make one child's world bright.
In a world full of "me" they think mainly of others,
Serving our community well,
Treating all men as brothers.
They've done it with pride
And for very little pay.
They're doing it right,
The AmeriCorps way.
As a Team we look forward
To the New Year with delight.
Happy Holidays from CalSERVES
And to all a Good Night!
