CalSERVES CAN!

Kristen Mowers, Nutrition Coordinator for CalSERVES

The CalSERVES Can Creation!

February is Canned Food Month and to honor/celebrate this CalSERVES joined with the Network for a Healthy CA to host a month long event. It started with a field trip to Food Maxx where the 3rd and 4th grade students got to take a tour of the store, do some exercises inspired by fruits and vegetables, and help prepare a healthy snack. CalSERVES also participated in the “Can Creation” project and built a 3D book out of donated canned food. All of the cans used were then donated to the Redwood Empire Food Bank. Our grand finale was a Fun Family night at Sheppard Elementary where families got to come play some games, learn Capowara and Zumba, and receive nutrition information.

School of Rock

Annette Zucconi, Program Coordinator for CalSERVES


They came in mass, 120 strong, on an unseasonably beautiful January morning like a tidal wave of gray AmeriCorps shirts. Instead of sleeping in, our dedicated service members, representing 8 school sites, converged on the Chop’s Teen Center in Santa Rosa to enjoy a morning conference, affectionately titled “School of Rock”. Developed and implemented by a phenomenal group of AmeriCorps Team Leaders and Promise Fellows, the conference served as a mid-year “booster shot” for the CalSERVES ’08-’09 corps.


The day began with an amazing keynote address by Jim Nevill of Go Adventure, http://www.lifeschooladventures.org. Jim laid out the statistics facing youth today, and hammered home the message that this group of members, in this time of challenge and turmoil, is needed like no other time in American history. They were charged with the responsibility of giving youth the message “There is Hope, and you can achieve your Dreams”, and the skills to make it happen. It was evident, as they poured out of the main hall toward their workshops, that they understood the mission they were on.


The CalSERVES vision of Passion, Power and Potential was sprinkled throughout all of the morning’s workshops. Topics included classroom management for lower and upper grades, literacy instructions, communication, and prioritizing & lesson planning. To top it off, the participants enjoyed a delicious lunch catered by the Chop’s staff.


After all was said & done, our amazing Team Leaders and Promise Fellows came together for a Fishbowl reflection, sharing all they had learned about identifying needs, designing & developing training, and yes, just how challenging it is to sync up logistics, with content, with participants! It was a day to remember, a first time event, initiated by the CalSERVES “Larry” Staff Tribe, supported by the entire staff…….and in the words of Larry the Cable Guy we “Gitter Done!”.

Imagine Bus Comes to Sheppard!

Betsy Jones, Supervising Teacher at Sheppard Elementary/RAMS

Sheppard Students, 4-6 grade, create on the Imagine Bus

The Sheppard After School program has a special visitor every week—the Imagine Art Bus. Each week, Jane Lang and her volunteers come to the site to lead exciting and engaging art projects. The bus holds 10 students at a time but we’re able to send 20-25 students each visit. Students work at specially designed workstations, dabbling in a variety of forms, mediums, and styles. From mandalas to wooden sculptures, our students bring home beautiful works of art each Tuesday. We’re looking forward to all the amazing lessons and creations the Imagine Art Bus brings this spring!

Claudia

Rufus